President Donald Trump has declared that no United States officials will participate in the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, citing what he described as ongoing “human rights abuses” and reviving long-debunked claims of white Afrikaners being systematically targeted in the country.
Trump, who had earlier announced that Vice President JD Vance would represent the United States at the meeting later this month, said he had now decided to pull out U.S. representation entirely.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump stated on his Truth Social platform. “No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”
According to Trump, Afrikaners, descendants of early European settlers in South Africa, “are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”
The U.S. president added that he looked forward to hosting the 2026 G20 summit in the United States, which he plans to hold at his own golf resort in Miami, Florida, a move that has already sparked controversy.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly taken a hard line against South Africa, particularly over his unfounded assertions of a “white genocide.”
Earlier in 2025, he reportedly confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, playing a video that purported to show government-backed attacks on white farmers, a claim South Africa’s government has firmly denied.
Last week, Trump’s administration unveiled plans to slash the annual refugee intake to a historic low of 7,500, while giving preference to white South Africans.
Tensions between Washington and Pretoria have also deepened over South Africa’s decision to pursue a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Adding to the strain, Trump has imposed a 30-percent tariff on South African goods, the steepest rate applied to any nation in sub-Saharan Africa.
