Trump Bars South Africa from Attending 2026 G20 Summit, Gives Reasons
- Donald Trump has withdrawn South Africa’s invitation to the 2026 G20 summit and revived claims of a supposed Afrikaner genocide
- Cyril Ramaphosa avoided direct confrontation during the G20 but reiterated South Africa’s commitment to global cooperation
- Pretoria later issued a formal response, saying Trump acted on misinformation and that South Africa would remain an active G20 member
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United States President Donald Trump has withdrawn South Africa’s invitation to the 2026 G20 summit in Miami.
The announcement appeared on his social media account on Wednesday and reignited his repeatedly disproven claim that white Afrikaners face an organised campaign of extermination.
Source: Twitter
Trump declared that Washington would halt all remaining financial support to Pretoria. He added that South Africa was “not a country worthy of Membership anywhere”.
The administration had already suspended assistance earlier in the year.
Renewed dispute over rights claims
His latest message extended a long-running standoff with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Trump accused the South African government of ignoring what he called abuses against descendants of European settlers.
Human rights experts had said no evidence supports his accusation of a targeted killing campaign.
Trump criticised the media for refusing to give weight to his allegations. He insisted that Afrikaners suffer “horrific Human Right Abuses”. He also repeated a claim that white people were being killed and dispossessed of their farms, a statement rejected by South African authorities and independent monitors.
The clash comes days after South Africa hosted the G20 leaders in Johannesburg. The United States boycotted the gathering. No senior official travelled from Washington, a stark deviation from past practice when the US was consistently active at the forum.
Source: AFP
Diplomatic fallout from the G20 summit
Ramaphosa formally closed the meeting on Sunday but did not pass the traditional gavel to a representative of the next host country. Trump later said he had offered to send an embassy official. Pretoria viewed the offer differently and declined. Trump then confirmed that South Africa would not receive an invitation to Miami.
Ramaphosa did not focus on the US absence during the summit. He wrote that global cooperation remained central to South Africa’s agenda and that the country sought “solidarity, equality and sustainability”.
Relations between both countries have cooled sharply during Trump’s second term. In February, he signed an executive action accusing South Africa of violating the rights of white Afrikaners and directing agencies to halt assistance.
The order also called for special resettlement routes for Afrikaners. Later in the year, the administration set the lowest refugee ceiling in US history and asked that most of the limited slots be given to people from South Africa and others facing alleged discrimination.
South Africa issues formal reaction
Pretoria issued an extensive response on Thursday, November 27. Officials said the G20 summit had been widely praised and noted that the handover instruments were delivered to the United States Embassy at South Africa’s foreign ministry headquarters.
They stated that South Africa remained a sovereign democracy that would not accept insults from another nation. The government said attempts had been made to repair relations but that Trump continued to rely on “misinformation and distortions”.
"It is regrettable that despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset the diplomatic relationship with the US, President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country," the statement partly read.
Trump threatens US military action in Nigeria
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, had directed the Defence Department to prepare for potential military action in Nigeria if the government "continues to allow the killing of Christians."
Trump also disclosed that the US government would immediately stop all assistance and aid to Nigeria. The US president made the claim on Saturday, November 1.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
