Trump’s aid cuts and tariffs call for an ‘Africa First’ response  

In recent months, the name Birtukan Temesgen has become synonymous with years of human-rights abuses in Ethiopia. That country has largely become a failed state under the rule of its strongman, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad, despite — or maybe in part because of — generous aid from the U.S. and the West.

In 2019, Birtukan had overcome a rough childhood in Africa’s second-most populous nation to become a thriving student at Dembi Dolo University. One day, while walking across the campus,...