Donald Trump slaps South Africa. “It is not a country worthy of membership in any organization”
U.S. officials boycotted this year's G20 talks — the annual meeting of world leaders on global economic development, held this year in Johannesburg, South Africa — after Trump described the host country's treatment of white citizens as “genocide.”
At the end of the summit, the White House tried to send a representative from its embassy in South Africa instead of Trump to receive the gavel from South Africa, because the host nation customarily closes the meeting by passing the gavel to the leader of the next country to preside over the summit. But South Africa rejected the gesture as an insult and a breach of protocol, prompting Trump to withdraw the country's invitation to Miami for next year's meeting.
“South Africa will NOT receive an invitation to the G20 summit next year in the great city of Miami, Florida,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “South Africa has shown the world that it is not a country worthy of membership in any organizationwhich is why from today we are suspending all payments and subsidies to it.
The conflict between the US and South Africa is escalating
The withdrawal of the invitation further deepens tensions in the already difficult relationship between the two countries, as Trump continues to condemn South Africa for what he calls the continued persecution of white farmers in the country.
In May, the administration granted refugee status to dozens of white South Africans even as it simultaneously restricted the number of refugees coming to the United States from other countries. South African-born Elon Musk, one of Trump's closest advisers at the time, also vocally condemned alleged discrimination against white farmers in the country.
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Why doesn't Trump invite South Africa to the G20 summit?
What did Trump say about South Africa?
What is the relationship between the US and South Africa?
What does Trump plan to do with payments to South Africa?
Although Trump and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson have been promoting the narrative of persecution of Afrikaners for several years, these claims are not confirmed by the data. According to crime data in South Africa, murders of white farmers account for less than 1%. from 27 thousand murders committed annually in this country.
During an Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, which took place just days after Afrikaners were granted refugee status, Trump made his case by showing Ramaphosa clips of a video that he said were evidence of “genocide.”
US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, May 21, 2025.Chip Somodevilla / AFP
– Did they tell you where it is, Mr. President? Ramaphosa asked in response to these claims. “I'd like to know where it is because I've never seen it.”
In a Friday post on Truth Social, Trump continued to criticize the South African government, claiming it “refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific human rights violations suffered by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers.”
“To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and allowing their farms to be randomly taken over,” Trump wrote.
