After months of escalating tensions between the U.S. and South Africa, President Donald Trump is assembly with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the White Home on Wednesday.
Previous to the assembly, President Ramaphosa expressed hopes of reaching a commerce take care of the U.S., which might serve to fix broken ties between the 2 nations.
“Whether or not we prefer it or not, we’re joined on the hip and we must be speaking to them,” Ramaphosa stated in a filmed interview shared on Might 16. “We wish to come out of america with a extremely good commerce deal… and consolidate good relations between our two nations.” The South African chief added that the conflict in Ukraine, in addition to the Israel-Hamas conflict, will even be mentioned.
The assembly comes at a pivotal time, as since returning to the White Home for his second time period, Trump has strongly criticized Ramaphosa’s governing of South Africa, claiming there was a “genocide” of white farmers. Ramaphosa’s authorities denies these allegations.
There’s a historical past between Trump and Ramaphosa, as this isn’t the primary time there was friction. In 2018, throughout his first time period, Trump acquired criticism from the South African authorities after posting what South African officers known as “false data” through social media about “the massive scale killing of farmers” within the nation. Trump requested then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “intently examine” the scenario, following a report from Fox Information citing that the “South African authorities is now seizing land from white farmers.”
South African officers stated that Trump’s evaluation of the problem was a “slim notion” which solely sought “to divide” their nation and “remind” them of their colonial previous.
In the meantime, to this point throughout Trump’s second time period, Elon Musk—who leads the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE)—has joined Trump as a vocal critic of the South African authorities. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and nonetheless holds citizenship. In February, the Tesla CEO immediately addressed Ramaphosa in a publish on X, saying: “Why do you have got brazenly racist possession legal guidelines?”
In early Might, Musk’s AI bot Grok was discovered to be posting about “white genocide” in South Africa, in response to unrelated posts and requests. The difficulty was stated to be resolved inside hours, and Musk’s firm has since acknowledged that the problem was because of an unauthorized change to the bot’s prompts from a rogue worker, including that the system could be up to date to deal with the issue.
Right here’s what to know concerning the escalating tensions between america and South Africa:
White farmer “genocide” allegations
Trump has alleged a genocide is being dedicated towards white South Africans, one thing which Ramaphosa has vehemently denied. In a video posted on X on Might 16, the South African President stated: “Everyone knows as South Africans, each black and white, that there isn’t a genocide right here… The false tales which were perpetrated, everyone knows will not be true, will not be a mirrored image of who we’re.”
Ramaphosa additionally stated: “Throughout our working go to to the U.S. we will probably be advancing a proudly South African message.”
Trump Administration officers greeted over 50 Afrikaners, descendants of primarily Dutch colonial settlers who arrived in South Africa within the 1600s, on Might 12 as they arrived in america as refugees. These had been the primary official refugees to reach within the U.S. beneath the Trump Administration, after the President suspended all refugee admissions on his first day in workplace.
Chatting with reporters concerning the arrival, Trump stated they’d “primarily prolonged citizenship” in order that the Afrikaners might “escape the violence.” Trump informed reporters: “We’re alleged to have a G20 assembly there [in South Africa], I do not know the way we will go until that scenario is taken care of. It is a genocide that is happening, that you just folks don’t wish to write about.”
Responding to a TIME reporter as to why Afrikaners had been being accepted into the U.S. however not different refugees, Trump stated: “Farmers are being killed… They occur to be white, however whether or not they’re white or black makes no distinction to me. However white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”
Ramaphosa responded to the expulsion, calling it regrettable, however added that he was “engaged on straightening out” the stress.
Rasool returned to South Africa to a sea of supporters welcoming him on the airport. Talking upon his arrival, he stated: “A declaration of persona non grata is supposed to humiliate you. However whenever you return to crowds like this, and with heat… then I’ll put on my persona non grata as a badge of dignity.”
Trump signed an Govt Order titled “Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa”
In February, Trump signed an Govt Order pausing all overseas help to South Africa after claiming that land belonging to white South Africans was being confiscated they usually had been being handled unfairly.
The Govt Order cited the South African Expropriation Act of 2024, enacted in January 2025, saying it enabled Ramaphosa’s authorities “to grab ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property with out compensation.”
Trump’s assertion continued: “This Act follows numerous authorities insurance policies designed to dismantle equal alternative in employment, training, and enterprise, and hateful rhetoric and authorities actions fueling disproportionate violence towards racially disfavored landowners.”
In response, the South African authorities stated: “It’s of nice concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful historical past of colonialism and apartheid.”
The assertion referred to the U.S. resettlement programme for Afrikaners as “ironic,” describing the South African group as one of the economically-privileged within the nation.
The Expropriation Act permits non-public land seizures by the federal government with out compensation, elevating considerations from Afrikaners about land presumably being taken by the state. In South Africa, roughly three-quarters of personal land is white-owned. White folks make up an estimated 8% of the nation’s inhabitants, while solely 4% of privately-owned land is owned by black South Africans, regardless of them making up an estimated 80% of the inhabitants.
Trump Administration rebukes South Africa’s ICJ case towards Israel
The Trump Administration disagreed with South Africa’s case towards Israel on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ), which accused Israel of committing genocide towards the folks of Gaza within the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In Trump’s Govt Order that lower help to South Africa, the President stated: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions in direction of america and its allies, together with accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide within the Worldwide Court docket of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop industrial, army, and nuclear preparations.”
South Africa filed its case accusing Israel of genocide in December 2023, saying it was “gravely involved with the plight of civilians caught within the current Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip as a result of indiscriminate use of drive and forcible removing of inhabitants.”
Ramaphosa’s authorities filed proof for his or her case in October 2024.
