US president Donald Trump has signalled he will skip the G20 summit in South Africa due to “land confiscation” and “ white genocide.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “How could we be expected to go to South Africa for the very important G20 meeting when land confiscation and genocide is the primary topic of conversation?”
“They are taking the land of white farmers, and then killing them and their families. The media refuses to report on this. The United States has held back all contributions to South Africa. Is this where we want to be for the G20? I don’t think so!” he said.
Trump’s social media post included video clips of Julius Malema, leader of the small far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), speaking about land occupation and calling killing a “revolutionary act.”
Land reform remains a sensitive issue in post-apartheid South Africa, where over 70% of commercial farmland is still owned by the white minority, according to news agency AFP. When asked about Donald Trump’s comments suggesting he would skip the G20 summit, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said, “We were no longer expecting him to attend anyway,” reported AFP.
Ties between South Africa and the United States have worsened during Donald Trump’s presidency, with Washington repeatedly accusing the African nation of following anti-white policies. Trump recently issued an executive order cutting US funding to South Africa and offering Afrikaners refugee status in the US.
Elon Musk, a South Africa-born billionaire, has also been accusing some South African political figures of “actively promoting white genocide,” following a rally by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a far-left opposition party, where members sang a controversial song with the lyrics “Kill the Boer, the farmer.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio had also skipped the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa in February, claiming the agenda was “anti-American.” South Africa holds the G20 presidency for 2025 and is set to host the annual leaders’ summit in November.
