Trump Reignites Controversy: Incredulous silence, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation watched footage that Trump said validated his accusations that Ramaphosa’s government was ignoring violence against white Afrikaners.
Ramaphosa claimed he had never seen the crosses along a road depicted by Trump as the marked graves of white farmers who had been killed and that he would find out where the footage was taken.
In the film, opposition leaders from South Africa were also heard demanding that white farmers be killed.
Ramaphosa denounced those statements and asserted that he formed his political alliance to discredit those who advocated for violence.
The White House arranged the heated altercation between Trump and a U.S. ally to vent the tensions in front of the globe. Trump reportedly perused printed news items on the murders of white farmers. Trump stated, “Those people are being executed in many cases—they are white, and the majority of them are farmers.”
According to President Ramaphosa, the nation’s many violent crimes target Black and White people. Crime is a problem in our nation. “Unfortunately, criminal activity does not only kill white people,” Ramaphosa informed Trump.
Ramaphosa kept trying to move the discussion in a more secure direction. “South Africa offers a lot of opportunities to trade minerals needed to boost American manufacturing,” he told Trump. He expressed gratitude to Trump for his agreement to supply respirators to South Africa during the COVID-19 outbreak. Trump’s attempts to negotiate peace accords in countries like Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ukraine were commended by him.
By claiming to have given Trump a “really fantastic” 30-pound book of pictures of South Africa’s golf holes, Ramaphosa started his overtures by appealing to Trump’s passion of the game.
Ramaphosa declared that he was prepared to play golf with Trump and that he had “started practicing.” Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, two renowned South African golfers, were also brought into the Oval Office by him so they could talk to Trump.
Ramaphosa’s visit coincides with a tense situation between the Trump Administration and South Africa. Trump said 59 white South Africans were being targeted for violence and granted them refugee status earlier this month.
In a move that has angered Trump administration officials, the South African government has also been an outspoken advocate for Palestinians in Gaza who have had their homes demolished and their access to food cut off by the Israeli force. South Africa accused Israel in a petition it filed with the International Court of Justice in December of committing “genocidal acts” in Gaza. Israel called the accusations “baseless” and dismissed them.
Trump appeared to greet Ramaphosa warmly at the beginning of the meeting, implying that a conflict was imminent. “Like all of us in all families, he is a man who is definitely respected in some circles and somewhat less respected in others,” Trump stated. Trump, who was standing behind a couch across from the billionaire South African businessman Johann Rupert, lauded the two golfers who accompanied Ramaphosa and called it “an honor” to see him.
Ramaphosa had called Trump directly to express his desire to meet, Trump claimed. I’m not sure how you obtained my number, but I answered. I would want to come over and visit you, he replied. I was honored to do that. Many thanks for being present.
Ramaphosa claimed he was there to “reset” the U.S.-South Africa relationship. There are almost 600 American firms operating in South Africa and creating jobs, while 22 South African companies have invested in the United States, he said, adding that the two nations have worked together in space exploration, trade, and energy. He also expressed a desire to increase trade between the two nations. The 89-year-old South African golfer Gary Player told Ramaphosa that he’s “getting rather on” in years, but he “wishes us luck in this discussion with you.” Ramaphosa claimed he also attempted to bring Player.
When a reporter questioned Trump about what it would take to convince him that white South Africans are not being obliterated, the mood in the room changed. Ramaphosa immediately jumped in to respond to the query. “.””President Trump needs to listen to South African voices—some of them are his friends,” the president of South Africa stated. said Ramaphosa. He pointed to Ells, Goosen, Rupert, and South Africa’s Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen and remarked, “These gentlemen would not be here if there was genocide against Afrikaners,” according to Ramaphosa. “That is the solution.”
Trump then instructed an aide to bring him a stack of newspapers about violent attacks on white farmers and turned down the lights in the room to highlight a big flat-screen TV that was mounted along one of the Oval Office’s walls. A five-minute video that Trump aired purportedly showed evidence of racial violence calls and the killings of South African officials and white farmers. On the side of the room, Elon Musk, who has frequently made bogus allegations of genocide against white South Africans on his social networking site, X, viewed the video with great interest.
Following the video, Ramaphosa claimed that the lawmakers belonged to a small party that is not part of his coalition government. He declared that he opposes their demands for violence. According to Ramaphosa, Black people make up the majority of South African murder victims. Adding, “But the farmers are not Black,” Trump cut in. “We are willing to talk to you about these concerns,” Ramaphosa said to Trump.
For the next twenty minutes, Ramaphosa and the other members of the group, including Rupert, Steenhuisen, and trade union head Zingiswa Losi, tried to persuade Trump that the information he had been given was false or deceptive.
They pushed him to acknowledge that violence against Black and white people is a problem in South Africa and that it is untrue to blame the government for these killings.
Els, a golf champion, once claimed to be a “proud South African” who wants to see his nation “flourish” while displaying his passport.
During the heated debate, Ramaphosa joked, “I’m sorry, I don’t have a plane to give you,” referring to Qatar’s intentions to send Trump a luxury aircraft.
Towards the end of the hour-long conversation, someone asked Trump if he had changed his mind about the country’s targeting of white farmers for genocide. “I’m still undecided,” Trump declared.
Trump’s meeting with Ramaphosa was the most heated in the White House since he and Vice President J.D. Vance publicly chastised Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in late February for not expressing enough appreciation for U.S. military assistance. After that encounter, Trump did not invite Zelensky to a planned luncheon, and he left the White House earlier than expected.
After media were escorted out of the Oval Office, Ramaphosa’s team was permitted to stay at the White House for almost two hours, longer than Zelensky’s. In the White House’s North Portico, President Ramaphosa was questioned by a reporter if he believed Trump “heard” him during the discussions as he moved between the tall columns. “He did, and it went really well.”
