After months of escalating tensions between the U.S. and South Africa, President Donald Trump is meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday.
Prior to the meeting, President Ramaphosa expressed hopes of reaching a trade deal with the U.S., which could serve to mend damaged ties between the two countries.
“Whether we like it or not, we are joined at the hip and we need to be talking to them,” Ramaphosa said in a filmed interview shared on May 16. “We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal… and consolidate good relations between our two countries.” The South African leader added that the war in Ukraine, as well as the Israel-Hamas war, will also be discussed.
The meeting comes at a pivotal time, as since returning to the White House for his second term, Trump has strongly criticized Ramaphosa’s governing of South Africa, claiming there has been a “genocide” of white farmers. Ramaphosa’s government denies those allegations.
There’s a history between Trump and Ramaphosa, as this is not the first time there has been friction. In 2018, during his first term, Trump received criticism from the South African government after posting what South African officials referred to as “false information” via social media about “the large scale killing of farmers” in the country. Trump asked then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study” the situation, following a report from Fox News citing that the “South African government is now seizing land from white farmers.”
South African officials said that Trump’s assessment of the issue was a “narrow perception” which only sought “to divide” their nation and “remind” them of their colonial past.
Meanwhile, thus far during Trump’s second term, Elon Musk—who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—has joined Trump as a vocal critic of the South African government. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and still holds citizenship. In February, the Tesla CEO directly addressed Ramaphosa in a post on X, saying: “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
In early May, Musk’s AI bot Grok was found to be posting about “white genocide” in South Africa, in response to unrelated posts and requests. The issue was said to be resolved within hours, and Musk’s company has since stated that the issue was due to an unauthorized change to the bot’s prompts from a rogue employee, adding that the system would be updated to address the problem.
Here’s what to know about the escalating tensions between the United States and South Africa:
White farmer “genocide” allegations
Trump has alleged a genocide is being committed against white South Africans, something which Ramaphosa has vehemently denied. In a video posted on X on May 16, the South African President said: “We all know as South Africans, both black and white, that there is no genocide here… The false stories that have been perpetrated, we all know are not true, are not a reflection of who we are.”
Ramaphosa also said: “During our working visit to the U.S. we will be advancing a proudly South African message.”
Trump Administration officials greeted over 50 Afrikaners, descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, on May 12 as they arrived in the United States as refugees. These were the first official refugees to arrive in the U.S. under the Trump Administration, after the President suspended all refugee admissions on his first day in office.
Speaking to reporters about the arrival, Trump said they had “essentially extended citizenship” so that the Afrikaners could “escape the violence.” Trump told reporters: “We’re supposed to have a G20 meeting there [in South Africa], I don’t know how we can go unless that situation is taken care of. It’s a genocide that’s taking place, that you people don’t want to write about.”
Responding to a TIME reporter as to why Afrikaners were being accepted into the U.S. but not other refugees, Trump said: “Farmers are being killed… They happen to be white, but whether they’re white or black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”
Ramaphosa responded to the expulsion, calling it regrettable, but added that he was “working on straightening out” the tension.
Rasool returned to South Africa to a sea of supporters welcoming him at the airport. Speaking upon his arrival, he said: “A declaration of persona non grata is meant to humiliate you. But when you return to crowds like this, and with warmth… then I will wear my persona non grata as a badge of dignity.”
Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa”
In February, Trump signed an Executive Order pausing all foreign aid to South Africa after claiming that land belonging to white South Africans was being confiscated and they were being treated unfairly.
The Executive Order cited the South African Expropriation Act of 2024, enacted in January 2025, saying it enabled Ramaphosa’s government “to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.”
Trump’s statement continued: “This Act follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
In response, the South African government said: “It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa’s profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.”
The statement referred to the U.S. resettlement programme for Afrikaners as “ironic,” describing the South African group as one of the most economically-privileged in the country.
The Expropriation Act allows private land seizures by the government without compensation, raising concerns from Afrikaners about land possibly being taken by the state. In South Africa, roughly three-quarters of private land is white-owned. White people make up an estimated 8% of the country’s population, whilst only 4% of privately-owned land is owned by black South Africans, despite them making up an estimated 80% of the population.
Trump Administration rebukes South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel
The Trump Administration disagreed with South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accused Israel of committing genocide against the people of Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war.
In Trump’s Executive Order that cut aid to South Africa, the President said: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
South Africa filed its case accusing Israel of genocide in December 2023, saying it was “gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants.”
Ramaphosa’s government filed evidence for their case in October 2024.
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