US President Donald Trump has vowed to boycott the G20 summit in South Africa over the country’s treatment of white farmers.
The President had previously confirmed that he would not personally attend the gathering of leaders from the world’s top developed and emerging economies.
Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to attend in his place, however, a source familiar with his plans said he will no longer be travelling to the summit.
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump lambasted the decision to host the conference in South Africa as a “total disgrace”.
Mr Trump lambasted the decision to host the conference in South Africa as a ‘total disgrace’
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REUTERSThe President wrote: “Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.
“No US Government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue.
“I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!”
The White House has frequently accused the South African government of not doing enough to protect white Afrikaner farmers from being attacked and persecuted.
The White House has frequently accused the South African government of not doing enough to protect white Afrikaner farmers
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GETTYLast month, the Trump administration confirmed that white South Africans would form the majority of the 7,500 refugees set to be admitted to the US each year.
The South African government has rejected the President’s claims, saying that white South Africans continue to enjoy higher living standards than the black population after the end of apartheid.
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s President, said it is “completely false” that the Afrikaner minority faces persecution and discrimination.
During a speech in Miami on Wednesday, Mr Trump called for the African nation to be removed from the G20.
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The President said: “”South Africa shouldn’t even be in the Gs any more, because what’s happened there is bad.
“I’m not going to represent our country there. It shouldn’t be there.”
Mr Trump pressed the South African President on the issue during a meeting in the White House in May.
The US President told Mr Ramaphosa: “You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and when they kill the white farmer nothing happens to them.”
Mr Trump pressed the South African President on the issue during a meeting in the White House
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GETTY
After the meeting, the African leader said that there was “doubt and disbelief about all this in [Trump’s] head”.
Mr Ramaphosa has previously slammed the Afrikaner refugees who fleed to US, brandishing them as “cowards”.
The decision for US officials to skip a G20 meeting is not without precedent.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting after the agenda focused on climate change, diversity and inclusion.
