President Donald Trump has directed that no United States government representative should attend the forthcoming G20 summit scheduled to take place in South Africa later this month.The decision follows his renewed claims that white Afrikaners are being targeted and killed in the country, allegations that have been repeatedly dismissed as false.

The American leader had earlier announced that Vice President JD Vance would attend the summit on his behalf. However, he reversed that position in a post on his Truth Social platform, describing it as a disgrace for the global meeting to be hosted in South Africa. Trump stated that the United States would not take part in the summit as long as what he called human rights abuses continued.Trump alleged that the Afrikaner population, descendants of early European settlers, were victims of killings and illegal land seizures. His comments have drawn criticism, as several international organisations and rights monitors have found no evidence to support such claims.

The US president also expressed his intention to host the 2026 G20 summit in the United States, a gathering he plans to hold at his own golf resort in Miami, Florida. In response, South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation described Trump’s remarks as unfortunate and misleading.

The ministry, in a statement, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to successfully hosting the summit on November 22 and 23. It further clarified that the idea of Afrikaners as an exclusively white or persecuted group was historically inaccurate and not supported by factual evidence.

Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has maintained a tough stance on South Africa, repeating the unfounded narrative of a “white genocide.” Earlier this year, he confronted President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting in Washington, where he showed a video alleging government-backed attacks on white farmers. The South African government has firmly denied the claims.

The Trump administration has also come under criticism for announcing a drastic reduction in the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States to a record low of 7,500, while stating that preference would be given to white South Africans. Relations between both countries have further been strained by South Africa’s legal case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the recent 30 percent tariff imposed by Washington on South African exports, the highest rate applied to any nation in sub-Saharan Africa.

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