Quick Read
Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed.
Trump confronts South African President over alleged white farmer killings.
Ramaphosa denies claims, stating allegations of genocide are false.
Meeting started positively, discussing golf and trade before tensions rose.
Washington DC:
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday confronted his South African counterpart at the White House over an inflammatory speech made by the latter’s colleague, calling for the death of white farmers in the African nation. This is President Trump’s second confrontation at the White House in full media glare – the first being a verbal duel with Ukraine’s President Zelensky, who he blamed for prolonging the war.
Hosting the African leader at the Oval Office in the White House, President Trump decided to play out an audio-visual clip, which the US President has linked to a “White genocide” in South Africa. President Ramaphosa, who looked visibly displeased about the sudden attack by Donald Trump, has denied such allegations.
A FRIENDLY START
South Africa has maintained that the allegations about White people being targeted and killed in the country are entirely false. Pretoria and Cape Town have acknowledged that the murder rates in the country are high, but have stressed that the overwhelming majority of victims are Black.
The meeting between the two Presidents began on a friendly note, as both leaders spoke about golf. President Trump also complimented the South African President about the golfing talent in the African nation. President Ramaphosa then brought up the ‘T’ word that is Trump’s latest-favourite, and sought to discuss trade between the two nations. He also mentioned a critical minerals deal.
AMBUSHED
Both leaders smiled and talks were going smoothly. The President Trump sprung a surprise on the South African leader, targeting him over one of the most contentious areas of dispute between the countries – an alleged “White genocide”. Heads turned as Trump asked for a video to be played.
WOW! President Trump just halted the meeting with the South African President to show videos of prominent South African politicians calling for genocide against white South Africans.
Ramaphosa looked embarrassed. pic.twitter.com/ZopuIeFlHM
— George (@BehizyTweets) May 21, 2025
As it played out, President Ramaphosa sat expressionless. Somewhere midway through the video, the South African President turned around to get a glimpse of it. Claiming the video to be proof of a “White genocide”, Donald Trump then said that the video showed graves of thousands of white farmers.
AVOIDING A CONFRONTATION
Maintaining his calm, President Ramaphosa denied ever seeing this video before. He added that he will find out what the location of this video was and dig deeper into the authenticity of it.
But President Trump was not done. The US President then went on to display printed copies of articles that he claimed showed white people who were killed in South Africa. As he flipped through the pages, President Trump kept saying “death, death…” aloud.
Just as President Ramaphosa began speaking, saying that a majority of the murders in South Africa were of Black victims, President Trump interrupted him, saying, “But the farmers are not Black.”
Wanting to avoid the meeting from becoming a spectacle, President Ramaphosa said, “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”
TRUMP’S SUSTAINED ATTACK ON SOUTH AFRICA
Since taking office for his second tern as US President, Donald Trump has been outspoken and critical about South Africa’s land reform law, which is aimed at redressing the injustices of apartheid. By targeting South Africa over the alleged “white genocide”, President Trump has countered the African nation’s genocide lawsuit against Israel.
Doubling down on his diplomatic offensive against South Africa, President Trump has, in recent months, cancelled aid and expelled South Africa’s Ambassador to the US. He has even offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners based on racial discrimination claims, which Pretoria and Cape Town have rejected.
Donald Trump has directly blamed the South African government for the “hateful rhetoric” against white people in the country, accusing them of taking away the land of white farmers and not acting against those committing acts of violence against the minorities.
(Inputs from Reuters)
