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The US will boycott this month’s G20 meeting of nations because of South Africa’s ongoing persecution of white farmers, President Donald Trump announced on Friday.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!”
The remarks were rebuffed by South Africa’s government, which described them as “regrettable.”
“The characterization of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact.”
President Trump had previously hinted that he might boycott the G20. In July he said he might skip the summit and “send somebody else” instead.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also skipped a G20 meeting of foreign ministers, saying South Africa was promoting “DEI and climate change” and that he had no interest in using taxpayer money to “coddle anti-Americanism.”
Since returning to the White House, President Trump has made South Africa a consistent focus of criticism, both for its domestic and foreign policy.
Early in his new term, President Trump harshly criticized the South African government for new land-reform measures that allow for the appropriation of private land without compensation. The Trump administration claimed the measures would be used to target white landowners, as similar measures were in other African countries, most notably Zimbabwe.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” the President posted on Truth Social.
“It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Executive Order 14204, “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” was issued at the beginning of February.
It had two primary functions: to suspend all foreign aid to South Africa, and to prioritize refugee admissions for white South Africans who are the “victims of unjust racial discrimination” in their homeland.
The Order led to the suspension of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, including money that was used to finance South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programs.
President Trump also directly challenged South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a visit to the White House, making him watch footage about the persecution of white farmers.
At the beginning of the month, it was announced that refugee admissions for the 2026 fiscal year will be capped at just 7,500, the lowest ever, with a priority for white South Africans fleeing persecution.
The first white South Africans admitted to the US under this new designation, 59 in total, landed in the US in May.
As many as 70,000 white South Africans are reported to have expressed interest in relocating to the US.
The US is due to take over leadership of the G20 from South Africa in 2026.
