The United States will not attend this year’s G20 summit in South Africa, President Donald Trump announced on Friday, citing widely debunked claims that white South Africans face persecution and land seizures. The decision has drawn criticism from Pretoria and international observers who called the allegations baseless.
Trump said it was a “total disgrace” that the annual meeting of the world’s largest economies would be held in Johannesburg later this month. Posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, the president claimed that “Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”
He added that “no U.S. government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue,” later confirming that neither he nor Vice President JD Vance would represent Washington at the summit.
Earlier this week, Trump suggested he might send Vance in his place, but the White House later stated that the U.S. delegation would not participate at all.
In a statement on Saturday, South Africa’s foreign ministry said it “regretted” Washington’s withdrawal and rejected Trump’s assertions. “The characterization of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical,” the statement read. “Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution is not substantiated by fact.”
Read Also: Trump To NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani: Respect Washington Or Fail
The ministry added that no recognized political party in South Africa, including those representing white and Afrikaner communities, has ever claimed a genocide or organized campaign of violence against whites.
Independent researchers and international rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have similarly dismissed claims of a “white genocide” as misinformation unsupported by credible data.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly accused South Africa’s government of discriminating against its white minority. In May, he confronted President Cyril Ramaphosa during a White House meeting, alleging racial bias in land reform policies.
Last month, the Trump administration extended refugee status to white South Africans, citing “genocide” as grounds, despite the claim being discredited by South African courts and international monitors. Pretoria noted that only a small number of South Africans have applied for the status, describing the policy as “politically motivated.”
The G20, formed in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis, brings together the world’s 19 largest economies plus the European Union. Its purpose is to promote international financial stability and economic cooperation.