As relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate, US President Donald Trump has announced that he will prevent South Africa from attending next year’s G20 summit.
Group 20 is made up of 19 major economies, plus the European Union and now the African Union. Countries in the group hold meetings throughout the year, and there is also an annual summit hosted by the country that chairs the group.
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President Trump chose to boycott this year’s G20 summit, which was hosted by South Africa in Johannesburg last week. He accused the country of committing what he called “white genocide” against white farmers and communities.
The United States will next assume the group’s chairmanship and host the G20 summit next year.
Earlier this month, President Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that South Africa’s role as host of this year’s summit, the first of its kind in an African country, was an “utter disgrace.”
“Africans are being murdered, massacred, and their lands and farms illegally confiscated,” Trump wrote of white communities descended from Dutch settlers, French and German immigrants, repeating South Africa’s accusations and claims without evidence.
“As long as these human rights violations continue, U.S. government officials will not attend. We look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!” he added.
On Wednesday, President Trump announced in another Truth Social post that South Africa would not be invited to the next G20 summit.
What did Trump say and why?
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa concluded two days of talks last weekend without passing the gavel to the incoming president, as is tradition, as no senior US officials were present at the summit.
In his closing remarks on Sunday, Prime Minister Ramaphosa said: “With the gavel of this G20 summit, it officially concludes and we move on to the next G20 Presidency of the United States, where we will meet again next year.”
President Trump sent a US embassy official to South Africa at the last minute, but Ramaphosa claimed he refused to hand over the gavel to the person.
President Trump also reiterated Wednesday that the United States did not attend the summit because the South African government “refuses to recognize or address the horrific human rights abuses suffered by Afrikaners and descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers.”
“To put it more bluntly, they are allowing white people to be murdered and their farms taken at random. Perhaps worst of all, the soon-to-be-out-of-business New York Times and the fake news media won’t say a word about this genocide,” he said.
“At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand over the G20 Presidency to the High Representative of the United States Embassy, who attended the closing ceremony. Therefore, on my instructions, South Africa will not receive an invitation to the G20 in 2026, which will be held next year in the great city of Miami, Florida.”
“South Africa has proven to the world that they are not worthy of membership and we will immediately suspend all payments and subsidies to them. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention!”, the President added.
The United States is South Africa’s second largest single trading partner after China. Total trade in goods and services between the two countries in 2024 was estimated at $26.2 billion, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
How did South Africa react?
A statement released by Prime Minister Ramaphosa’s office on Thursday called President Trump’s decision “regrettable.”
“South Africa is a member of the G20 in name and right. Its G20 membership is at the behest of all other members.”
“South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democracy and does not welcome insults from other countries about the value of participating in global platforms. South Africa will never insult other countries or its place in the community of nations.”
“It is unfortunate that despite efforts and multiple attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset diplomatic relations with the United States, President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country,” the statement concluded.
What is G20?
The group was established in 1999 by 19 countries and the European Union as a forum to discuss global economic issues after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Other member states are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, and the African Union, which will join as its 21st member state at the 2023 summit in India.
Other countries are often invited to the summit. A total of 42 people participated this year. Polish President Karol Nawrocki said in September that President Trump had already invited him to next year’s meeting.
Until now, member states have never been barred from participating in a summit.
However, in 2022, then-US President Joe Biden said Russia should be banned from the G20 because of its invasion of Ukraine, but that did not happen.
At that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an arrest warrant issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the Ukraine war, sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to attend in his place.
This year’s conference in Johannesburg was attended by Maksim Oreshkin, deputy head of the presidential administration.
Separately, Russia was expelled from the Group of Seven (G7), then known as the Group of Seven, in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
Can President Trump ban G20 members from the annual summit?
It’s not official. One G20 member cannot unilaterally exclude another from the summit, as the G20 is an informal group of states and institutions and there is no formal mechanism to do so.
Still, President Trump could deny U.S. visas to South African delegates, potentially barring them from entering the country and thus from participating in the summit.
Why does President Trump claim that South Africa is committing “white genocide”?
Since returning to office in January, Trump has frequently claimed that South African white farmers are being murdered in what he calls a “genocide.”
The claim has been refuted by both South African officials and Afrikaner groups, but President Trump remains adamant about his claims.
Unsubstantiated rumors about so-called “white genocide” have been circulating among South Africa’s white minority community since apartheid was abolished in South Africa in 1994. Over the past decade, rumors have spread to far-right forums in the United States, drawing vocal support from Trump ally and South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, among others.
President Trump bases his claim on South Africa’s passing of new laws to address disparities in land ownership. More than 30 years after the end of apartheid, three-quarters of land is still owned by the white minority, but South Africa says its new law does not target white landowners.
Experts say the Trump administration’s cuts in foreign aid to South Africa in February could pose a serious threat to the country’s HIV response.
He also signed an executive order to “address South Africa’s egregious practices” against the country’s expropriation laws, which allow land seizures and redistribution.
In an executive order, President Trump condemned what he described as government policies that destroy “equal opportunity in employment, education, and business” and incite “unjust violence against racially disadvantaged landowners.”
President Trump has also proposed resettling Africans in the United States, and in May, 59 white South Africans arrived in the United States as part of the refugee program.
The order also condemned South Africa’s decision to file a genocide case at the ICJ against Israel over its genocidal war in Gaza.
During a heated exchange with President Trump at the White House in May, Ramaphosa rejected claims of “white genocide” and said South Africa has a high rate of violent crime in general, which affects all ethnic groups.
President Trump announced in October that the number of refugees would be capped at 7,500 per year for fiscal year 2026, giving priority to white South Africans.
