The United States has escalated tensions with South Africa after President Donald Trump accused the country of allowing targeted violence against white citizens and announced the withdrawal of all American subsidies alongside a ban from attending the 2026 G20 Summit in Miami.
Trump made the claims in a post on his official X account on Friday, saying South Africa had refused to acknowledge what he described as severe human rights abuses against Afrikaners and other white minorities.
In the post, Trump wrote that “they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them,” insisting the situation amounted to a genocide ignored by international media.
He said the U.S. stayed away from this year’s G20 gathering in Johannesburg because the South African government had failed to address these alleged abuses.
Trump added that “South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a senior representative from our U.S. Embassy,” describing the reported procedural issue as an insult following the U.S. boycott.
He declared that South Africa will not receive an invitation to the 2026 G20 Summit, which the U.S. will host in Miami.
He further stated that “South Africa has demonstrated to the world they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere,” announcing that the U.S. would stop “all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”
The claims revive a narrative Trump has amplified since 2018, when he directed officials to investigate allegations of white farmers being systematically targeted in South Africa.
The U.S. State Department review completed in 2019 found no evidence of an organised campaign of racial killings but acknowledged widespread rural crime affecting people of all races.
South Africa’s government and multiple independent monitors have previously rejected the genocide narrative, arguing that the country’s high crime rate and historical land tensions are being distorted for political purposes.
The Afrikaner population, descended from Dutch, French and German settlers, makes up about 5 to 6 per cent of South Africa’s population and continues to dominate ownership of agricultural land.
Farm attacks remain a contentious issue in South Africa, with police data showing dozens of murders each year involving both white and Black farmers.
Trump’s broadside came at the close of South Africa’s G20 presidency, which was the first time an African nation had led the forum.
The U.S. absence from the Johannesburg summit drew global attention and raised concerns among some member states about growing fractures within the bloc.
South Africa has not yet issued a detailed response to Trump’s latest accusations, though authorities have consistently described such claims as misinformation rooted in outdated racial myths.
Analysts say Trump’s comments will further strain relations between Washington and Pretoria, particularly after South Africa’s legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which Trump has strongly opposed.
Observers note that the U.S. decision to shut South Africa out of the 2026 G20 could have wider diplomatic implications for African countries seeking stronger representation in global economic governance.
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