Donald Trump has announced that the US will not participate in the G20 summit scheduled in South Africa, citing widely discredited claims of persecution against white Afrikaners in the country.
Trump referred to the hosting of the summit as a total disgrace in his statements, highlighting concerns about the safety and treatment of Afrikaners, a group descended from Dutch settlers. This declaration has prompted a response from South Africa's foreign ministry, which called the US decision regrettable.
Despite claims made by Trump that Afrikaners face genocide, no political parties in South Africa have supported such assertions, insisting that these claims lack factual support.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump stated, Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. He emphasized that as long as these human rights violations continue, no US official would attend the summit.
Initially, Trump suggested he would send Vice President JD Vance in his place; however, the administration later confirmed that no US representatives would be present at the summit.
The South African government countered Trump's claims, asserting that they are ahistorical and unsupported, while also mentioning the low uptake of refugee offers by South Africans - a program initiated by the Trump administration specifically for Afrikaners.
The G20 summit brings together the world's major economies to foster cooperation and discuss global economic stability, a mission that now sees the US distancing itself amid these controversial claims.
