Trump confronts South African president with accusations of "genocide" against whites: "They're executing them."

WashingtonA week after giving asylum to 49 white South AfricansDonald Trump received South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. The decision to consider Afrikaners—the name given to the descendants of Dutch settlers—victims of alleged racial discrimination by the South African government has worsened the already strained relationship with the country. But this Wednesday in the Oval Office, Trump went even further, telling Ramaphosa that there is a "genocide" against whites in South Africa. Ramaphosa had already stated that he did not intend to let this issue cloud his meeting with Trump. But the Republican had other plans, and the ambush was underway to falsely accuse him on camera. However, the South African president did not want to fall into the trap and become agitated, as happened with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and maintained a calm and cordial tone throughout.

"There are a lot of people who feel persecuted and are coming to the United States, so we take people from a lot of different places if we feel there's persecution or genocide going on. And we've taken a lot of them," Trump told Ramaphosa when asked about asylum for Afrikaners. "In many cases, these people are being executed, and in many cases it's not the government doing it, it's other people killing them and then taking their land, and nothing happens to them," Trump insisted.

The White House team then played a series of videos about South Africa as evidence of the alleged "genocide" against white people. Both clips included statements by Julius Malema, the leader of an opposition party known for his inflammatory rhetoric in favor of economic restructuring that would benefit Black people. Malema has repeatedly criticized post-Nelson Mandela governments for failing to sufficiently redress imbalances of power and wealth. However, his divisive views have kept his party out of government. The other clip featured former President Jacob Zuma, who, after being expelled from the ANC, created a new political party that has garnered some electoral support but also remains in opposition.

The footage included images of alleged "mass graves" of white Afrikaners, according to Trump. Ramaphosa tried to make light of the situation, telling Trump: "I'd like to know where this is." The Republican responded that "it's South Africa," without specifying its location, and that the graves shown in the videos were those of white farmers who had been "murdered."

"I have friends who tell me they take your land and kill you."

Ramaphosa remained silent in the face of Trump, who continued with the absurdity and showed a collection of printed news stories about cases of white South Africans who, in his opinion, have been murdered. "I have other friends in South Africa, people who left. One in particular says you can't leave. He says they take your land. They take your land and kill you. And they say it's okay to do that now. We'll talk about it, but it's a very serious issue. It's recent history. All these people have been murdered recently."

False accusations of genocide against the white population are a narrative widely championed by far-right groups in the United States. Elon Musk, who is South African and has publicly accused Pretoria of racially discriminating against the white population, was present at the meeting on Wednesday. The world's richest man was not the only South African friend of Trump's present at the meeting; Also present were golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, as well as billionaire Johann Rupert. And Trump made all three of them speak on camera. Rupert took the opportunity to reproach Ramaphosa for the fact that the country also needs technological help to fight crime and called for the intervention of Starlink, Musk's satellite company. "We have too many deaths... It's not just white peasants, it's widespread, and we need technological help. We need Starlink in every little police station. We need drones," Rupert stated, without ever mentioning the word genocide and highlighting that crime in his country affects all social groups.

Before the ambush, Trump had praised Ramaphosa as a "great golfer," while the South African had insisted on the need to "reset" trade relations with the United States amid the tariff war. "We are only a small economy, but we depend on each other in many areas. We have critical minerals that you need to fuel the growth of your own economy and reindustrialize, so we have this to offer, including rare earth minerals," said the South African leader, who was not short of praise.

In the days before the trip, Ramaphosa had already indicated that he would try to avoid the issue of the Afrikaners to focus on trying to resolve the impact of the US tariffs. Washington applied tariffs of 31%, although the country is currently also subject to a 90-day partial truce with a base of 10%. During the meeting in the Oval Office, Ramaphosa also tried to steer the conversation toward tariffs, as "the main reason for the visit" to the United States, arguing that he needed the help of "America's allies" to rebuild the South African economy and thus be able to resolve all of his country's security problems.

Afrikaner "refugees"

Ramaphosa arrived in Washington a week after 49 white South Africans landed in the United States under the "refugee" category, according to the new Trump administration. In February, the president signed an executive order to reduce financial aid to South Africa and accused the government of racial discrimination against whites, to whom he offered asylum.

"South Africa is behaving terribly, especially toward long-standing farmers in the country. Their land and farms are being seized, and much worse. It's a bad place to be right now, and we're going to stop all federal funding. Going a step further, any farmer ( ) from that country, on security grounds, will be invited to enter the United States of America with a fast track to citizenship." Trump wrote on Truth Social in March.

The land seizure Trump refers to in this post refers to the law signed by the South African president, which allows for the expropriation of land with "zero compensation" in specific circumstances, with the aim of alleviating the damage caused by apartheid on the Black population in South Africa. Inequalities in land ownership remain present within South African society. White people in South Africa represent approximately 7% of the population and own nearly three-quarters of agricultural land, according to a 2017 audit by the South African government. Although the South African government has not yet carried out any confiscations, Trump has already reduced economic aid to the country.

Beyond the implications of considering Afrikaners as "refugees," the United States has also been suspending its programs for refugees fleeing countries experiencing war or authoritarian regimes such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Sudan. Many humanitarian organizations have already accused the Trump administration of using the label as a distortion. refugee for Afrikaners.