The White House hosted an “African leaders” summit of sorts this week. But only five countries from the continent of more than 50 nations were welcome to join.

President Donald Trump told leaders from five African nations on Wednesday that he was shifting the U.S. approach to the continent from aid to trade and that the United States is a better partner for Africa than China.

The agency in April warned that a permanent discontinuation of PEPFAR, the massive US effort to fight HIV/Aids, would lead to more than six million new infections and an additional 4.2 million Aids-related deaths in the next four years. This would bring the pandemic back to levels not seen since the early 2000s.

U.S. aid cuts to global AIDS programs spark warnings of millions of deaths, as clinics close and progress unravels in vulnerable regions.

The Trump administration this week pressed five African presidents to take in migrants from other countries when they are deported by the U.S., two officials familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.

Known as the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), it led to the investment of more than $100bn (£74bn) in the global HIV/Aids response - the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in the world.

The meeting with the leaders comes as the Trump administration has taken radical steps it said are meant to reshape the US relationship with Africa.

The migrants plan was presented to the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon during their visit to the White House.