Trump ambushes South African leader with evidence of ‘genocide’ during Oval Office meeting
Despite tense moments, Ramaphosa says Trump ‘heard’ him, and meeting ‘went very well’
Donald Trump ambushed President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa with unsubstantiated evidence of genocide against white farmers during their Oval Office meeting on Wednesday.
The president has criticized South African land reform, which aims to address the injustices of apartheid. Trump canceled aid to the country, expelled its ambassador, and offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners based on racial discrimination claims that Pretoria says are unfounded.
After a friendly start to the meeting, Trump played a video showing an opposition leader chanting “Kill the Boer!” and what he claimed were burial sites of murdered white farmers.
The South Africans pushed back on the claims, emphasizing that the government was against the opposition’s views and that the country has a rural crime problem that impacts everyone.
Ramaphosa said earlier that no matter what, the U.S. and South Africa “are joined at the hip and we need to be talking to them.”
The South African delegation included luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who helped dispel tension as friends of Trump.
The president was accompanied by Vice President JD Vance and South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who has accused Ramaphosa of pursuing anti-white policies.
Thank you for following our rolling coverage of today’s White House meeting between President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
We are now pausing the live blog. Make sure you join us again tomorrow.
Here’s what you need to know from today:
Good morning
Welcome to our rolling coverage of today’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa.
Trump is set to greet his South African counterpart outside the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET this morning before a bilateral lunch in the Cabinet room.
That will be followed by a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at 12:45 p.m.
Joining the South African delegation will be luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
Vice President JD Vance and South African-born Elon Musk, a harsh critic of Ramaphosa will accompany Trump.
Trump repeated disputed claim that white farmers suffering ‘genocide’ in South Africa just 10 days ago
As recently as May 12, Donald Trump claimed that the U.S. media were refusing to write about a supposed “genocide” taking place in South Africa, given that the alleged victims were white.
He made the comments in the Oval Office during a brief media availability centered around the signing of an executive order aimed at establishing price controls for prescription drugs. The president’s remarks came as the first flight of white South African “refugees” was set to imminently disembark at Dulles airport.
John Bowden reports.
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Trump repeats claim white farmers suffering ‘genocide’ in South Africa
Golfing connections helped bring about meeting
South African billionaire Johann Rupert, accompanying President Ramaphosa today, is the founder of the Richemont luxury goods group that owns brands like Cartier.
He is an important investor in his home country and helped bring about Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump, South African media reported.
Ernie Els, a former world number one golfer and four-time major champion, also played a part, according to the reports.
Both men have played golf with Trump. Neither responded to requests for comment from Reuters.
South Africa filed genocide charges against Israel
South Africa formally accused Israel of genocide in charges filed at the International Court of Justice in late 2023.
At the time, President Joe Biden’s administration called the allegations brought by Pretoria “meritless”.
Then-National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that the court submission was “counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever”.
South Africa brought the charges to the United Nations’s top court at The Hague on December 29, citing prohibitions against genocide under international law banning killings or other actions “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
The case accuses Israel of acting “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” while conducting the war against Hamas it has been prosecuting since the 7 October 2023 terrorist attacks by the militant group killed more than 1,000 Israelis.
At that point, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said more than 21,000 Gaza residents have been killed, including more than 300 killed in UN-run shelters.
According to the ICJ, Israel is specifically accused of “acts and omissions” that “are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza”.
In response, Israel said the South African court action amounts to the country “calling for the destruction of the State of Israel”.
“Israel is committed to international law and acts in accordance with it, and directs its military efforts only against the Hamas terrorist organization and the other terrorist organisations cooperating with Hamas,” the Israeli government said in a statement.
What deals are on the table at today's meeting?
Ramaphosa is expected to offer Trump a broad trade deal, as well as specific deals such as duty-free access for Musk's Tesla electric vehicles in exchange for the firm building charging stations, and potential licensing for Musk's Starlink company.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, who is in Ramaphosa's delegation, said he was focused on securing and expanding South African farmers' duty-free access to the U.S. market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
AGOA is at risk from Trump's tariff regime, which is currently suspended but would hit South Africa with a 30 percent duty if enacted.
For his part, Trump is likely to demand that U.S. companies be exempted from “racial requirements,” a White House official said.
South Africa has laws to compel businesses to hire and promote Black South Africans, including a requirement for large companies in some sectors, such as mining and telecoms, to have a 30 percent equity stake held by disadvantaged groups.
Ramaphosa is unlikely to agree to weaken such rules, which are core to his government's aspiration to restore racial justice after centuries of colonialism and apartheid.
Reporting from Reuters
Trump puts white South Africans on citizenship fast track while rejecting all other refugees
Since taking office, Donald Trump’s administration has virtually shut down refugee admissions and blocked funding for resettlement groups, stranding thousands of people who were granted entry to the United States for humanitarian protections only to have those offers rescinded.
But the president has singled out one specific group of people who will be allowed entry into the United States and appear to be on a fast track to citizenship: white South Africans.
A group of 59 white South Africans admitted to the United States as “refugees” have been “essentially extended citizenship,” Trump said May 12.
Alex Woodward reports.
Trump welcomes white South Africans while rejecting all other refugees
South Africa meeting comes as Musk companies take reputational hit
Elon Musk’s companies have seen their reputations decline dramatically over the last year, according to a new poll, the latest sign of a backlash against the billionaire’s work with the Trump administration.
In a ranking of the country’s 100 most visible brands, Tesla fell to 95th, while SpaceX clocked in at 86, according to the 2025 Axios Harris 100 poll.
The rankings represent steep declines from the companies’ previous perches at 8th and 5th, respectively, in the 2021 poll.
Josh Marcus reports.
Elon Musk companies see reputations crumble in likely backlash to his work with DOGE
Another recent visitor to the Oval Office? The pope's brother
Pope Leo XIV’s MAGA-loving brother was photographed inside the Oval Office beside Donald Trump and JD Vance, just a day after the vice president held a private meeting with the new pontiff in Rome.
James Liddell has the story.
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