- President Trump confronts South African President Ramaphosa with claims of "white genocide" in South Africa
- Trump airs widely discredited video showing crosses, suggesting they represent graves of murdered white farmers
- The meeting, initially focused on improving trade relations, becomes tense over land expropriation and racial issues
A meeting intended to ease tensions between the US and South Africa escalated when President Donald Trump confronted President Cyril Ramaphosa with claims that white farmers in South Africa were being killed and “persecuted.”
On Wednesday, just a week after the US granted asylum to nearly 60 Afrikaners, a move that angered South Africa, Ramaphosa visited the White House to improve relations. However, during a live news conference, Trump brought up widely discredited allegations of “white genocide” in South Africa. He showed a video featuring crosses on a road, suggesting they were burial sites for murdered white farmers, though the crosses were part of a 2020 protest in response to the killing of a farming couple in KwaZulu-Natal. The video was not linked to actual graves.
Ramaphosa, who had emphasized the importance of improving trade ties, responded to Trump’s claims, asserting that such rhetoric did not represent government policy and that the protests shown in the video were from a small opposition party. He pointed to the presence of white South Africans in his delegation as evidence that the country was not engaged in genocide. Trump, however, continued to question the land expropriation policy and alleged killings, despite Ramaphosa’s reassurances that South Africa’s policy was fair and non-violent.
The meeting, initially cordial, became tense as Trump pressed his views on land seizure and violence against white farmers. Despite the escalating confrontation, Ramaphosa remained calm, deflecting questions and emphasizing South Africa’s commitment to racial reconciliation. Critics, including former US Ambassador Helena Humphrey, described the meeting as an attempt to embarrass the South African president.
The controversy surrounding the meeting added to existing tensions between the US and South Africa, particularly after Trump’s administration suspended critical aid to South Africa and expressed dissatisfaction with the country’s land expropriation laws.
