Trump confronts South Africa's Ramaphosa with genocide claim
In a tense meeting in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump presented videos and images and accused South Africa of committing "genocide" against its white minority, a claim categorically denied by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
U.S. President Donald Trump held a tense meeting with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the White House on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. During the meeting, he showed a video denouncing the alleged "genocide" against the white Afrikaner minority, an accusation the South African president categorically rejected
The incident was reminiscent of the tense meeting Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
The central topic of the meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the Trump administration's allegations of racial persecution in South Africa. Although his government has drastically reduced refugee programs, he recently granted refugee status to several Afrikaner families (white South Africans descended from Dutch settlers).
Tensions erupted when the press questioned the arrival of these refugees in the United States. Trump insisted on his theory that this minority is suffering persecution and demanded an explanation from his interlocutor. "They're usually white farmers fleeing South Africa, and it's very sad to see. I hope we can get an explanation," he told the media.
There is no genocide, says South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
Ramaphosa refused to be intimidated and firmly responded that there was no "Afrikaner genocide," urging Trump to listen to the South African people to dismantle that narrative. "If there really were a genocide against Afrikaner farmers, I assure you these people would not be here, including my own Minister of Agriculture," he said, pointing to his delegation, which included members of that community
US President Donald Trump insisted there were "thousands of stories" confirming the persecution and ordered the screening of a nearly five-minute video showing African politicians giving speeches advocating violence against whites and images of mounds and crosses that Trump claimed represented more than 1,000 murdered farmers.
"I'd like to know where that is, because I haven't seen it," the South African president commented uncomfortably after viewing the images. Ramaphosa emphasized that while crime is a problem in South Africa, the majority of victims of violence "are not white, but Black." He later said his country would continue talks with the United States, especially on issues related to trade
Whites own most of the land in South Africa despite representing only 7.3 percent of the population.
