2 weeks ago
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United States President Donald Trump has announced helium volition block South Africa from attending adjacent year’s G20 summit, arsenic relations betwixt the 2 nations proceed to sour.
The Group of 20 comprises 19 starring economies positive the European Union – and, now, the African Union. Countries wrong the radical conscionable passim the year, but an yearly acme is besides held, hosted by the state holding the presidency of the group.
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Trump chose to boycott this year’s G20 summit, which was hosted by South Africa successful Johannesburg past week. He has accused the state of conducting what helium calls a “white genocide” against achromatic farmers and communities.
The US is adjacent successful enactment to instrumentality the group’s presidency and volition big the G20 acme adjacent year.
In a station earlier this period connected his societal media platform, Truth Social, Trump said South Africa’s relation arsenic big of this year’s summit, the archetypal to beryllium held successful an African nation, was a “total disgrace”.
“Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their onshore and farms are being illegally confiscated,” Trump wrote of the achromatic assemblage of radical who descended from Dutch settlers and French and German immigrants, reiterating a assertion that South Africa has condemned and for which determination is nary evidence.
“No US Government Official volition be arsenic agelong arsenic these Human Rights abuses continue. I look guardant to hosting the 2026 G20 successful Miami, Florida!” helium added.
On Wednesday, successful different Truth Social post, Trump announced that South Africa would not beryllium invited to the adjacent G20 summit.
What has Trump said and why?
With nary elder US officials attending the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa ended the two-day gathering past play without passing connected the gavel, arsenic per tradition, to the adjacent state taking the presidency.
“This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this acme and present moves connected to the adjacent president of the G20, which is the United States, wherever we shall spot each different again adjacent year,” Ramaphosa said successful his closing remarks connected Sunday.
While Trump sent an authoritative from the US embassy successful South Africa astatine the past minute, helium claimed Ramaphosa refused to manus the gavel to that person.
On Wednesday, Trump besides repeated that the US had not attended the acme because, helium said, the South African authorities had refused to “acknowledge oregon code the horrific Human Right Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and different descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers”.
“To enactment it much bluntly, they are sidesplitting achromatic people, and randomly allowing their farms to beryllium taken from them. Perhaps, worst of all, the soon to beryllium retired of concern New York Times and the Fake News Media won’t contented a connection against this genocide,” helium said.
“At the decision of the G20, South Africa refused to manus disconnected the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our US Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony. Therefore, astatine my direction, South Africa volition NOT beryllium receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which volition beryllium hosted successful the Great City of Miami, Florida, adjacent year.”
“South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a state worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to halt each payments and subsidies to them, effectual immediately. Thank you for your attraction to this matter!” the president added.
The US is South Africa’s second-largest single-country trading spouse aft China. In 2024, full goods and services commercialized betwixt the 2 countries reached an estimated $26.2bn, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.
How has South Africa responded?
In a connection issued by Ramaphosa’s bureau connected Thursday, Trump’s determination was noted arsenic “regrettable”.
“South Africa is simply a subordinate of the G20 successful its ain sanction and right. Its G20 rank is astatine the behest of each different members.
“South Africa is simply a sovereign law antiauthoritarian state and does not admit insults from different state astir its worthy successful participating successful planetary platforms. South Africa volition ne'er insult different state oregon its lasting successful the assemblage of nations.
“It is regrettable that contempt the efforts and galore attempts by President Ramaphosa and his medication to reset the diplomatic narration with the US, President Trump continues to use punitive measures against South Africa based connected misinformation and distortions astir our country,” the connection ended.
World leaders assemble for the ‘family photo’ astatine the G20 Summit, successful Johannesburg, South Africa, November 22, 2025 [Leon Neal/Pool via Reuters]What is the G20?
In 1999, the radical was formed by 19 countries and the EU arsenic a forum to sermon planetary economical issues pursuing the 1997 Asian fiscal crisis.
Its different members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, arsenic good arsenic the African Union, which joined arsenic the 21st subordinate astatine the 2023 acme successful India.
Other countries are besides often invited to the summit; successful total, 42 attended this year. Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki said successful September that Trump had already invited him to adjacent year’s meeting.
Until now, nary subordinate authorities has ever been barred from the summit.
However, successful 2022, then-US President Joe Biden said Russia should beryllium banned from the G20 owed to its penetration of Ukraine, but that did not happen.
On that occasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is taxable to an apprehension warrant by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) implicit the warfare successful Ukraine, dispatched his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to be instead.
At this year’s gathering successful Johannesburg, the lawman caput of the statesmanlike administration, Maxim Oreshkin, attended.
Separately, Russia was expelled from the Group of Seven (G7), past called the G8, successful 2014, pursuing its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Can Trump prohibition a G20 subordinate from the yearly summit?
Not officially. One G20 subordinate authorities cannot unilaterally prohibition different from the acme since it is an informal grouping of states and bodies, and determination is nary ceremonial mechanics to bash so.
Still, Trump could perchance contradict US visas to representatives of South Africa, thereby banning them from the state and, by extension, the summit.
Why does Trump assertion South Africa is engaged successful a ‘white genocide’?
Since his instrumentality to bureau successful January, Trump has often alleged that achromatic farmers successful South Africa are being killed successful what helium calls a “genocide”.
This allegation has been refuted by some South African officials and Afrikaner groups, but Trump has remained resolute successful his claims.
Unfounded rumours of a alleged “white genocide” person circulated among number achromatic South African communities since the extremity of apartheid successful South Africa successful 1994. For the past decade, they person dispersed to far-right forums successful the US and garnered vocal enactment from Trump state and South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Trump bases his allegations connected South Africa’s passing of a new law seeking to code disparities successful onshore ownership. Three-quarters of onshore is inactive owned by the country’s achromatic minority, much than 30 years aft the extremity of apartheid, but South Africa says it is not targeting achromatic landowners with the caller law.
In February, the Trump medication chopped overseas assistance to South Africa, a determination which could beryllium a superior menace to the nation’s HIV response, according to experts.
He besides signed the “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa” Executive Order successful effect to the country’s Expropriation Act, which allows for onshore to beryllium seized and redistributed.
In the order, Trump condemned the alleged authorities policies that dismantled “equal accidental successful employment, education, and business” and fuelled “disproportionate unit against racially disfavoured landowners”.
Trump besides offered to resettle Afrikaners successful the US, and successful May, 59 achromatic South Africans arrived successful the US as portion of a exile programme.
The bid besides condemned South Africa’s determination to motorboat a genocide lawsuit astatine the ICJ against Israel implicit its genocidal warfare connected Gaza.
During a heated exchange with Trump astatine the White House successful May, Ramaphosa denied claims of a “white genocide” and said South Africa mostly experiences precocious rates of convulsive crime, which affects each ethnicities.
In October, Trump announced an yearly exile headdress of 7,500 for the 2026 fiscal year, with precedence to beryllium fixed to achromatic South Africans.
English (US) ·