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.
Trump posts video attacking Bruce Springsteen
President Donald Trump has posted a short video on Truth Social depicting him striking a golf ball that “hits” rock star Bruce Springsteen, causing him to fall down.
“The Boss” is the latest musician to feel Trump’s ire, with the president having also recently renewed his attacks on Taylor Swift.
Five days ago, Trump posted a diatribe against Springsteen, long known as a committed Democrat and friend of former President Barack Obama.
Trump wrote:
I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country. If I wasn’t elected, it would have been GONE by now! Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is “dumb as a rock,” and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out “prune” of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just “standard fare.” Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!
And two days ago, in a 2 a.m. post, he called for a major investigation into Springsteen, Beyoncé and Bono for their support of Kamala Harris.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's delegation in full
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be accompanied by:
- Ronald Lamola – Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
- Khumbudzo Ntshavheni – Minister in The Presidency
- Parks Tau – Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition
- John Steenhuisen – Minister of Agriculture
- Mcebisi Jonas – Special Envoy to the United States
Notable accompanying figures from the business and sports sectors
- Ernie Els – Professional golfer
- Retief Goosen – Professional golfer
- Johann Rupert – South African billionaire and luxury goods magnate
What actions has Trump taken against South Africa?
On February 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order cutting all U.S. funding to South Africa, citing what he described as its anti-white domestic policies and anti-American foreign policy.
In March, he expelled the South African ambassador.
Last week, he granted refugee status to a group of white South Africans he said were facing racial discrimination, a claim that the South African government denies.
Furthermore, the U.S. has said it would skip the G20 Summit in South Africa, scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in November.
U.S.-South Africa trading relations in the balance
The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner after China. Trump's sweeping trade tariffs announced in April (and subsequently paused for 90 days) included a levy of 31 percent on South African imports. And the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access to the US market for South African agricultural products, is up for renewal in September.
During this visit, Ramaphosa plans to offer Trump a broad trade deal. He is expected to try to convince Trump that the U.S. has a lot to gain from maintaining close ties with South Africa, the largest economy in Africa. In 2023, South Africa exported $13.9 billion worth of goods to the United States and imported $7.1 billion worth of American goods, resulting in a U.S. trade deficit of about $6.8 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division.
For his part, President Trump is expected to demand that U.S. companies be exempted from “racial requirements,” according to a White House official. 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 telecommunications, to have a 30 percent equity stake held by disadvantaged groups.
Elon Musk has criticized that requirement. He has blamed it for preventing him from bringing his satellite company, Starlink, to his native country.
Watch LIVE: Trump greets South African president amid tensions between nations
White House flag-bearer faints shortly before Ramaphosa's arrival
A White House flag-bearer fainted shortly before President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived at the West Wing’s north portico.
The uniformed individual and member of the honor guard appeared to faint and fall backwards into a grassy area.
They were roused and walked over to another area on the White House grounds for closer examination and medical attention.
Here’s the moment as caught on the livestream of the arrival:
Trump answers two quick questions while greeting Ramaphosa
The South African delegation pulled up to the North Portico at 12:03 p.m., with President Donald Trump stepping out seconds beforehand. Things appear to be running about 30 minutes behind schedule.
Trump answered two shouted questions as he welcomed the South African president, saying his “big, beautiful bill” is doing “very well … it’s very close”.
About the Pope’s brother, who visited him yesterday, he said that he was a “fantastic guy.”
They walked inside the West Wing at 12:04.
Trump and Ramaphosa begin Oval Office meeting
President Donald Trump introduces South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office: “He is a man who is certainly in some circles really respected, in other circles a little bit less respected.”
“We'll be discussing many things and some of the things you've been reading about in the papers,” Trump says as he begins his meeting with Ramaphosa.
“We're going to be discussing some of the things that are taking place in South Africa.”
The tone is friendly, and Trump jokes he does not know where Ramaphosa got his number.
Ramaphosa focuses on trading relations in remarks to Trump
“We are essentially here to reset the relationship between the United States and South Africa,” says President Ramaphosa.
“We are long, long-standing partners in many, many ways. We've collaborated in many fields, in space, issues, in energy, and in trade, and we therefore need to reset that, particularly in light of some of the announcements that you made on trade and investment. So we want to advance more trade between the two of us, two countries, and our people now have been empowered by yourself and myself to start engaging, and we hope that you will be able to fuel that engagement during our talks. And we also want to discuss issues that have to do with how we promote further investments in both countries.”
He continues: “You are a much bigger economy than we are. We're just a tiny economy, but we rely on each other on a number of issues. We've got critical minerals that you want to fuel the growth of your own economy and re-industrialize. So we have that on offer, including rare earth minerals. So all that combination of opportunity and the products that we buy from you, as well as what we sell to you, I believe, makes up a really good and powerful relationship, which we need to strengthen which we need to engender, and that is really what is brought us here and we are really privileged to have, you know grave South Africans in the mix, as you said you'd like to see them as well.”
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