President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed back against his US counterpart’s allegations during a tense Oval Office meeting
President Donald Trump confronted his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, with a video montage alleging discrimination and violence against white farmers during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
The meeting, which was ostensibly dedicated to a discussion of trade and bilateral relations, shifted to a discussion about the treatment of the country’s white minority after a journalist asked what would convince Trump that there is “no white genocide in South Africa.”
Ramaphosa interjected, emphasizing the need to listen to the voices of US “friends” to get a full perspective on the issue –prompting Trump to respond, “We have thousands of stories talking about it... I could show you a couple of things.”
“Turn the lights down, and just put this on,” Trump instructed his staff before playing a five-minute-long video montage. The footage included clips of South African opposition figures making inflammatory remarks, as well as images purportedly showing the graves of white farmers.
Trump then presented a stack of printed media articles about South Africa, flipping through the pages and commenting “death, death, death, horrible death.” He claimed the materials evidenced a targeted campaign against white farmers, pointing out that people were fleeing South Africa for their own safety.
In the Oval Office, @POTUS confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's denial of the shocking treatment his country's white farmers are facing with video evidence.
President Ramaphosa responded by emphasizing that South Africa is a multi-party democracy where individuals can express diverse views, and that the government does not endorse the statements made in the video. He noted that crime in South Africa affects all communities and asserted that it is not racially targeted. Ramaphosa also clarified that the individuals featured in the video were not part of his administration.
“You have hundreds of people, thousands of people trying to come into our country because they feel they’re going to be killed and their land is going to be confiscated. And you do have laws that were passed that give you the right to confiscate land,” Trump claimed.
Tensions between Washington and Pretoria have escalated since Trump returned to office in January. The US administration has accused South Africa of undermining the rights of the white Afrikaner minority through racially-targeted land distribution policies.
Pretoria has defended the measures, stating they are designed to address long-standing racial inequities in land ownership. Trump has pledged to fast-track naturalization for Afrikaners, claiming they are victims of a “genocide.”
Ramaphosa has repeatedly rejected those claims, saying during his latest public appearance, “There’s no genocide in South Africa. That is a fact that’s borne out of a lot of evidence.”
Relations soured further in March when Trump ordered a halt to all US federal funding to South Africa and expelled the country’s ambassador from Washington, accusing him of being “anti-American.” The move came after Pretoria filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Despite the tense White House exchange, Ramaphosa later described the meeting as having gone “very well,” stressing the importance of dialogue and continued cooperation between the two nations.
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