A high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa veered into controversy Wednesday after Trump ambushed Ramaphosa with a video he claimed proved white South Africans are being subjected to a "genocide" — a claim South Africa categorically rejects.
The incident, reported by The Guardian, unfolded in the Oval Office, where Ramaphosa had arrived in an effort to "reset" relations between the two countries.
The meeting, which began with lighthearted comments about golf, quickly turned confrontational.
After Ramaphosa stated there was no genocide against Afrikaners — descendants of mainly Dutch colonists — Trump responded: "We have thousands of stories talking about it."
He then instructed staff to dim the lights and play a video in front of assembled officials, journalists, and high-profile guests including Elon Musk, Senator JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and South African diplomats.
The video included footage of former South African president Jacob Zuma and opposition leader Julius Malema singing the apartheid-era struggle song "Kill the Boer," interpreted by some as incitement against white farmers.
It also featured scenes of white crosses purportedly marking the graves of over 1,000 white farmers allegedly murdered in recent years.
Ramaphosa, maintaining composure, responded firmly but calmly. "The views expressed in that video are not government policy," he said. When shown the graveyard footage, Ramaphosa noted he had never seen the location and would investigate.
Trump then read from a stack of news articles describing farm attacks, saying, "Death, death, death, horrible death." When Ramaphosa attempted to explain that the vast majority of crime victims in South Africa are Black, Trump interrupted: "The farmers are not Black."
Trump has repeatedly echoed far-right conspiracy theories suggesting a "white genocide" in South Africa — views amplified in recent years by figures like Musk and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
There is no evidence to support such claims. South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies globally, with white citizens — just 7% of the population — owning over half of the land and enjoying significantly better economic outcomes.
In the Oval Office, Trump insisted the issue is underreported. "Apartheid was terrible. But what's happening now is never reported. All we know is we're being inundated with people, with white farmers from South Africa, and it's a big problem."
The meeting came just days after around 50 Afrikaners arrived in the U.S. under Trump's offer of "refuge" — a move that contrasts with his administration's broader crackdown on asylum seekers.
Tensions between the U.S. and South Africa have intensified in recent months. Washington has criticized Pretoria for bringing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, slashed foreign aid, imposed 31% tariffs, and expelled the South African ambassador after he criticized the "Make America Great Again" movement.
A key point of contention remains South Africa's land reform legislation, enacted in January, which aims to address inequities from the apartheid era. Trump falsely claimed the law allows for violent land seizures: "You're taking people's land away from them and those people… are being executed. They happen to be white."
Ramaphosa rejected the assertion, stressing that the law operates within constitutional protections and aims for equitable land redistribution — not race-based targeting.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson condemned the meeting. "It's frankly disgusting to hear the President of the United States promote lies and propaganda," he said. "There's no limit to how far Donald Trump will go to divide people on the basis of race."
Ramaphosa's delegation included Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and billionaire Johann Rupert — part of a strategy to connect with Trump's known affinity for golf. Rupert appealed for technological assistance to combat crime broadly, suggesting the deployment of Musk's Starlink satellite internet and drones to support policing efforts.
Following the tense Oval Office exchange, Trump and Ramaphosa held a private lunch with Musk. At a later press conference, Ramaphosa struck a hopeful tone, calling the visit a success for trade and investment and again rejecting the "genocide" claims.
"There's just no genocide in South Africa," he said. "We cannot equate what is alleged to be genocide to what we went through in the struggle against apartheid."
He also indicated that Trump may not be entirely convinced by the conspiracy theory. "Much as he showed the video and those clippings, in the end, I do believe that there's doubt and disbelief in his head about all this."
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