President Donald Trump announced that no United States officials will attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, scheduled for November 22 and 23 in Johannesburg.
The decision stems from Trump's repeated assertions that white South African farmers, known as Afrikaners, are facing persecution, including killings and illegal land confiscations.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the hosting of the G20 in South Africa as a “total disgrace.”
He stated that Afrikaners “are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”
Trump added, “No US Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”
The announcement escalates tensions that have simmered since Trump returned to the White House in January.
The rift traces back to January, when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced the Expropriation Act.
This legislation aims to address historical land ownership imbalances from the apartheid era, where three-quarters of privately owned land remains in the hands of the white minority.
The law facilitates state expropriation of land in exceptional cases, such as abandoned properties, without compensation, to enable fair redistribution.
Ramaphosa has emphasized that it does not constitute confiscation but provides a framework for equitable reform.
Trump quickly condemned the measure, accusing South Africa of “confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY.”
He vowed that “The United States won’t stand for it, we will act.”
In May, during a White House meeting, Trump confronted Ramaphosa with claims of a “genocide” against white Afrikaners.
Ramaphosa rejected the allegation, pointing to prominent white South Africans present, including golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and businessman Johann Rupert.
He remarked, “if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you, these three gentlemen would not be here.”
South African authorities, along with Afrikaner leaders and political parties, have firmly denied any genocide or widespread persecution.
A South African court dismissed such claims as “clearly imagined” in February.
The government has described the accusations as “widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence.”
U.S. Policy Shifts and Broader Implications
In response, the Trump administration has prioritized white South Africans for U.S. refugee programs.
In May, asylum was granted to 59 Afrikaners under a resettlement initiative framed as protection from racial discrimination.
On October 30, the White House announced a sharp reduction in annual refugee admissions to 7,500, with most slots allocated to Afrikaners and other victims of alleged discrimination.
The policy invokes Executive Order 14204.
South Africa’s foreign ministry called the U.S. boycott decision “regrettable” and challenged the portrayal of Afrikaners as exclusively white, deeming it “ahistorical.”
It further asserted that claims of community persecution lack factual basis.
Trump, who had initially planned to send Vice President JD Vance in his stead, now envisions the U.S. hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida.
The G20, established in 1999 amid the Asian financial crisis, convenes leaders from major economies representing over 85 percent of global wealth.
Annual summits promote international cooperation on economic stability and pressing global issues.