President Trump said on Wednesday that South Africa would not be invited to next year’s Group of 20 summit in the United States, just days after South Africa finished hosting the annual gathering, in the latest of a series of attacks on Africa’s largest economy.
Mr. Trump did not attend the meeting, a gathering of the world’s largest economies, citing the false narrative that white South Africans are being indiscriminately killed and having their land seized. In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, the president repeated the claim.
He said he was excluding South Africa because its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, had refused to ceremonially hand over the summit to the acting U.S. ambassador; South African officials have said that the handover had to be done to another head of state, not a diplomat.
During an Oval Office meeting in May, Mr. Trump ambushed Mr. Ramaphosa with the same claims of white persecution. He played a slickly produced video that he said supported his claims, leaving the South African president stunned and sinking his country’s relationship with the United States to a low point.
Mr. Trump also said on Wednesday that the United States would “stop all payments and subsidies” to South Africa, though it was not clear to exactly what he was referring. Most U.S. aid to South Africa has already been suspended, through an executive order earlier this year and other cuts by the Trump administration to foreign aid. Almost all of the American funding to South Africa was in the form of funding to fight HIV and AIDS.
“South Africa has demonstrated to the world they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere,” Mr. Trump wrote in his post.
Mr. Ramaphosa pushed back against Mr. Trump’s assertion that South Africa was not invited to next year’s gathering.
“South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democratic country and does not appreciate insults from another country about its worth in participating in global platforms,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a statement. “South Africa will continue to participate as a full, active and constructive member of the G20.”
The G20 brings together the world’s 19 largest economies, as well as the European Union and the African Union, in an effort to reach consensus on shared goals and strategies for tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues, like climate change and global financial stability.
Each year, a different member state takes on the presidency of the group, allowing it to set the agenda that is ultimately discussed at the heads of state summit toward the end of the year. This was the first year that the summit was held in Africa.
Mr. Trump has said that he plans to host next year’s summit at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida. It remains unclear whether Mr. Trump can prohibit South Africa from attending since it is a G20 member. South Africa is likely to have strong backing from the other members of the group, almost all of whom praised the country’s handling of the summit this year.
“How on earth is this in America’s interest?” said Michelle Gavin, a former American diplomat in Africa, adding that “fixating on a demonstrably false claim about South Africa” would not make the United States safer or more prosperous.
For much of the year, South African officials have been tap dancing around Mr. Trump’s insults, stressing the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the United States, its second largest trading partner. South Africa has been struggling to negotiate a deal with the White House to lower 30 percent tariffs that Mr. Trump imposed.
But South Africa’s patience appears to be wearing thin.
“It is regrettable that despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset the diplomatic relationship with the U.S., President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country,” Mr. Ramaphosa’s statement said.
South Africa and some other G20 members have toughened their rhetoric against the United States and sought to use the summit to show that the world can move on even if America retreats. Some nations announced deals during the summit and in the lead up that they said were an effort to deepen their ties with other allies.
Before the summit, the United States warned South Africa against issuing a consensus declaration — essentially a statement of shared ambitions of the G20 members — arguing that all members had to be present to do so. But South African officials said that they could move ahead with a declaration in America’s absence.
When Mr. Ramaphosa adopted the declaration, he was supported by every nation present, except Argentina.
Discussion about this post