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.
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A group of 42 Democrats has written to the Pentagon’s Inspector General demanding an investigation after it was reported that Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, could win a lucrative contract to help build President Donald Trump’s new “Golden Dome” anti-missile defense system.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Tammy Duckworth have responded by expressing their concerns in a letter to acting Pentagon Inspector General Steven A Stebbins, demanding transparency about the bidding process.
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Democrats call for investigation into Elon Musk’s Golden Dome bid
Ramaphosa says meeting with Trump 'went very well'
Just before 3 p.m., South African President Cyril Ramaphosa left through the North Portico. He was asked how the meeting went.
“Very well,” he said.
Asked whether he thinks Trump “heard” him, Ramaphosa said: “Yes, he did, it went very well."
'No tax on tips': Who could see massive drops in their bill to Uncle Sam?
The Republican-led Senate has passed the “No Tax on Tips Act”, a pledge President Donald Trump campaigned on during the election.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also adopted the idea during the presidential campaign, as the concept proved popular across both political parties.
In a surprise move, the Senate swiftly passed the bipartisan bill Tuesday, and it will now go to the House of Representatives for a vote.
Rhian Lubin looks at who might benefit.
Senate passed ‘no tax on tips.’ Who could see big drops in their bill to Uncle Sam
Trump channels a conspiracy theory-loving uncle with bizarre Oval Office ambush
Richard Hall writes:
At first it looked as though the South African president had avoided a trap.
For weeks ahead of Cyril Ramaphosa’s White House visit, MAGA world had been promoting unsubstantiated claims about a hidden “white genocide” in the country. Donald Trump himself called it a “genocide,” as his administration officials greeted 59 white South Africans as “refugees” at the airport last Monday in D.C.
So, Ramaphosa came prepared. He brought with him two of the president’s favorite golfers and a giant book about golf. His introductory remarks were a tour de force of diplomacy, and the meeting was on track to avoid the doomed fate of Volodymyr Zelensky’s in February.
Then, a voice from the back of the room sparked chaos.
Read on...
Trump channels a conspiracy theory-loving uncle with bizarre Oval Office ambush
Trump stops civil rights investigations into local police departments
The Department of Justice is dismissing lawsuits against several local police departments, ending critical investigations into allegations of constitutional violations and civil rights abuses in the wake of high-profile police killings.
Justice Department officials announced on Wednesday they were pulling Joe Biden-era lawsuits targeting police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, which came under scrutiny following the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, whose deaths galvanized racial justice protests in 2020.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Trump stops civil rights investigations into local police departments
Hacker steals data of 60 government officials who used 'knock-off' Signal app
A hacker got access to the data of more than 60 government officials after breaching a communications service used by former national security adviser Mike Waltz and others, according to a review by Reuters.
The news agency found that dozens of officials were using the messaging platform TeleMessage after reviewing leaked data provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets. The nonprofit's mission is to archive hacked and leaked documents in the public interest.
The documents included material from customs officials, disaster responders, a number of U.S. diplomatic staffers, and at least one White House official, as well as members of the Secret Service.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
More than 60 government officials used hacked ‘knock-off’ Signal app
What does Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' mean for you?
Rhian Lubin writes:
House Republicans are edging ever closer to getting President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” over the line by winning over GOP holdouts.
Lawmakers in the House Republican caucus have been bickering over the fate of their budget reconciliation package as Speaker Mike Johnson said he wanted a final vote to take place Wednesday.
“President Trump’s ‘one, big, beautiful bill’ is going to require one big, beautiful vote,” Johnson said. “We are going to get this done.”
The bill looks to slash taxes and increase spending on oil drilling, the military, and border security, while also making cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs.
It’s a make-or-break moment for the president and his party, who have invested much of their political capital during the crucial first few months of Trump’s return to the White House on this package. It comes at a time of huge economic uncertainty.
Read on...
What’s in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill?
Trump posts fake video of him hitting Bruce Springsteen with a golf ball
President Donald Trump has posted a fake video of him hitting a golf ball at singer Bruce Springsteen amid a tense public feud.
Trump posted a video to Truth Social Wednesday showing real footage of him and Springsteen that has been manipulated to depict the president striking the rock star with a golf stroke.
Rachel Dobkin reports.
Trump posts fake video of him hitting Bruce Springsteen with a golf ball
‘Real’ point of Ramaphosa’s White House visit was the closed-door portion, aide says
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told South African TV station Newzroom Afrika that the Oval Office meeting was “an orchestrated show for the cameras” and that the “real business” of the trip was the bilateral closed-door meeting.
“President Ramaphosa came here not for a TV show, he came here to discuss with President Trump in earnest how we can reset the strategic relationship between South Africa and the U.S,” Magwenya said.
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