After the Oscars, Martin immediately went to Guinea and then entered Liberia to take over the several mineral resource concessions promised by Weah.
Liberia's iron ore reserves are 4-6.5 billion tons (with an iron content of 30%-67%), making it the second largest iron ore producer and exporter in Africa.
Liberia's iron formation dates back to the Archean Eon (over 3 billion years ago). High and medium-grade deposits were formed by tropical weathering and rainwater, leading to silicate leaching and oxidation, ultimately enriching the iron.
Weathering transformed banded iron formations into iron ore, and can also form hydrous iron oxides, such as pisolitic iron ore.
After helping Weah's government deal with the rebel forces, the other party reciprocated by granting Meyers Group's mining subsidiary 50% equity in the iron ore mines at Mount Nimba, the Bano River, and Mount Bato.
This time, Martin brought a team of managers and surveyors to inspect his assets.
The first stop was Mount Nimba.
Mount Nimba isn't just a single mountain, but an area covering 130 km², a nature reserve with tropical rainforest, mesophilic vegetation, and tropical savanna ecosystems. This area is home to rare animals like the chimpanzee, pygmy hippopotamus, and unique viviparous toads.
It lies between Guinea and Liberia, with more than half located in Guinea.
Its core area covers 21,780 acres, the buffer zone 35,140 acres, and the transition zone 88,280 acres.
The mountain range runs southwest to northeast. Its highest peak, Mount Nimba, stands 1,752 meters above sea level.
The southern foothills are lowland tropical rainforest, the northern side is tropical savanna. Rivers originating from the mountains, like the Nuon and Cavalla, form part of the Liberia–Côte d'Ivoire border.
Coincidentally, the section rich in iron ore happens to lie within Liberian territory.
When they arrived at the simply built residential area, Martin was surprised to see the incumbent Liberian President, Weah, also there.
He had come specifically to meet Martin.
For no other reason than to secure more investment from Martin.
Weah had no choice.
After fourteen years of civil war, the economy of this already poor country was completely devastated.
Over a decade of civil war had long exhausted inter-tribal trust, and the massive Ebola outbreak inflicted unbearable wounds on Liberia.
According to World Bank statistics, Liberia's GDP per capita last year was a mere $621 making it one of the least developed countries in the world.
Extreme poverty led to dire living conditions in Liberia, while unstable conditions created social security problems, severely impacting people's sense of well-being.
As of 2019, Liberia's poverty rate was as high as 63.8%, the illiteracy rate reached 58%, the infant mortality rate was 53‰, the maternal mortality rate was a staggering 7.3‰, and the HIV infection rate was 1.3%. The figures were shocking.
According to the UN Development Programme's 2018 Human Development Index, Liberia ranked 176th out of 189 countries, a typical "failed state."
Although he went abroad to play football in his youth, Weah still felt loyalty and a sense of responsibility towards his birthplace.
He wanted to build this country up.
This "want" naturally gave rise to "desire," and with "desire," Martin found it easy to operate.
Weah left with a smiling face, utterly unaware that something extra had been planted in his mind.
...
After joining the Republican Party, Trump took Martin to several meetings, where he got to know many party bigwigs and elite figures.
Time moved to 2019. A major "pandemic" swept the globe.
Initially, the US government didn't take it seriously. Trump even shamelessly boasted: "The pandemic is having an effect on people of Asian descent."
Before his words had faded, the pandemic began spreading in the USA.
By January 22, 2020.
Trump attempted to downplay the danger of the novel coronavirus, telling the public: "We have it totally under control. It's going to be just fine."
On January 24th, Trump reiterated his stance, calling the outbreak controllable. He stated on social media: "The pandemic prevention work is going very smoothly."
On January 28th, Trump's advisor Robert O'Brien issued a warning: "The coronavirus pandemic cannot be taken lightly. It is not only the biggest national security threat the US is about to face, but also the biggest challenge of Trump's term."
On February 6th, the first American died from the pandemic infection.
Throughout February, Trump continued to choose to downplay the pandemic. He indicated at a pandemic briefing that this disease would completely "disappear" in 4 months.
By February 9th, 2020, the US was still in the grip of the pandemic.
The 92nd Academy Awards were still held as scheduled.
Celebrities attended the grand event wearing masks.
On February 25th, Trump indicated that the US was close to developing a vaccine.
Subsequently, White House staff hastily clarified that Trump was referring to the Ebola vaccine, not the coronavirus vaccine. Bafflingly, the Ebola vaccine had already been approved in the US.
On February 26th, Trump compared the coronavirus to the flu, and again indicated it would soon "disappear."
Informed sources revealed that in private, Trump explicitly told reporters the coronavirus was more "deadly" than the strenuous flu.
In March, the novel coronavirus pandemic spread rapidly in the US. Globally, the mortality rate rose to 3.4%.
Trump said in an interview: "I think the 3.4% number is wrong. I've spoken to many diagnosed patients, many have very mild symptoms, they get better quickly, some don't even need to see a doctor."
...
Furthermore, Trump repeatedly praised his anti-pandemic policies.
He told Americans the pandemic would disappear soon.
However, his words and some of his actions were completely inconsistent.
On March 13th, Trump declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a national emergency.
The same day, Trump indicated that the US CDC's production speed of test kits was much slower than that of other countries.
On March 18th, Trump signed a pandemic relief bill, which included provisions for free virus testing and paid sick leave.
By the end of March, over one-third of the global population was under lockdown.
Trump sought to overturn his previous statements, claiming he had been taking the pandemic seriously for months.
In April, Trump led the way in refusing to wear a mask, contradicting guidelines issued by the US CDC.
Trump stated: "I feel wearing a mask when meeting presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens is very inappropriate."
Meanwhile, the pandemic continued to spread. 4.4 million people filed for unemployment, with the total number of unemployed reaching approximately 26 million. US deaths surpassed 50,000.
In mid-April, Trump made his infamous "disinfectant" remarks.
He suggested that injecting disinfectant could kill the virus in a minute.
Health officials everywhere urgently issued warnings, urging Americans not to listen to this off-the-cuff idea, stating that injecting bleach or other disinfectants was dangerous and could not treat the novel coronavirus.
Martin was very curious, is my future father-in-law crazy?!