The US president had previously announced that he would not attend the annual summit of heads of state from the world’s leading and emerging economies. JD Vance was scheduled to attend in Trump’s place, but a source familiar with Vance’s plans, speaking anonymously, said he would no longer travel to South Africa for the summit.
On Friday, Donald Trump declared that no US government officials would be sent to this year’s G20 summit in South Africa, citing the country’s treatment of white farmers.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 is being held in South Africa,” Trump said on his social media channel. In his post, he referenced the “abuse” of Afrikaners, including violence, deaths, and the forced confiscation of their land and farms.
The Trump administration has long accused the South African government of allowing minority white Afrikaner farmers to face persecution and attacks. As the US limits its annual refugee intake to 7,500 people, the administration has indicated that the majority will be white South Africans who allegedly face discrimination and violence at home.
However, the South African government has expressed surprise at these accusations, pointing out that white people in the country generally have a much higher standard of living than Black residents, more than three decades after the end of apartheid — the era of minority white rule.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has told Trump that information about discrimination and persecution of Afrikaners is “completely false.”
Nonetheless, the administration has continued to criticize the South African government. Earlier this week, during an economic speech in Miami, Trump said South Africa should be expelled from the G20 group.
Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting because its agenda focused on diversity, inclusion, and climate change efforts.
