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Here’s what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of today’s main events.
- US President Donald Trump hosted his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House amid tensions between the two countries.
- Trump “ambushed” Ramaphosa with news clippings and a video to back his baseless claim that South Africa is committing genocide against South African farmers.
- “Death, death, death, horrible death,” Trump said, referring to alleged attacks against white farmers, but Ramaphosa countered by saying that crime in the country has targeted citizens of all backgrounds.
- Despite the tense public portion of the meeting, Ramaphosa said his talks with Trump – which focused on trade and investments – went well and called the visit a “great success”.
- South African opposition politician Julius Malema, who was featured on Trump’s video chanting “Kill the Boer”, dismissed the White House meeting as a “group of older men” gossiping about him.
Here is where things stand at the White House on Wednesday, 21 May 2025 :
- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has met Donald Trump in Washington, DC, amid tensions over Washington’s resettlement of Afrikaners, who the US president claims are the victims of “genocide”.
- Ramaphosa’s office says Trump must prove the charge that white South Africans are persecuted if it continues to push the claim after Ramaphosa’s government has repeatedly rejected it.
- Ramaphosa plans to discuss opportunities for Tesla and Starlink, companies owned by Trump’s ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa and has accused Ramaphosa of pursuing anti-white policies, which the South African leader has rejected.
- The meeting comes after the Trump administration last week welcomed a group of Afrikaners after it imposed a near-total pause on refugee admissions from elsewhere in the world.
South African leader says private meeting ‘didn’t dwell’ on Trump’s claims
Ramaphosa has said that, despite Trump’s public confrontation in the Oval Office, the private meeting earlier today “didn’t dwell” on claims that white South Africans were being persecuted.
He added that the delegation “did not run away” from the high crime rate in South Africa, despite rejecting there is a white “genocide”.
“We kept saying there is a security problem, and not running away from that is criminality, and we even sought to deal with it from its genesis, that in the end, when the economy is not growing, when there’s poverty, when there’s unemployment,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the private talks focused on trade, investment and Trump’s threat of 30 percent tariffs.
“I do believe that our visit here has been a great success,” he said.
Ramaphosa says ‘firm agreement’ to continue engagement
The South African leader indicated there would not be a further rupture in US-South Africa relations, despite the confrontational Oval Office meeting earlier today.
Ramaphosa said, “There will continue to be engagement between South Africa and the United States officials, particularly on the trade and industry level, to deal with the package of issues that we had tabled that have to do with trade and investment.”
“So, I was rather pleased that there’s a firm agreement and undertaking that we’re going to continue engaging so there’s no disengagement,” he said.
Ramaphosa again strikes positive tone after Trump meeting
The South African leader has been speaking to the press following his meeting with Trump.
“In the end, we had a really good bilateral,” he said, adding that a number of issues came up, many of which the press and public “observed”.
We were able to have a robust engagement with Mr Trump in your presence,” he told reporters.
What else is happening in US politics?
- The White House has warned that failure by the Republican-controlled House to pass his signature tax cut bill would represent an “ultimate betrayal”.
- A judge has ruled the Trump administration violated a court order on third-country deportations with flight linked to South Sudan.
- The Justice Department moved to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for police department overhauls.
- Iran has confirmed nuclear talks with the US in Rome on Friday
Malema’s EFF comes to his defence
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Sinawo Thambo says Trump showing a video of Malema chanting “Kill the Boer” is confirmation that the group is on the “right side of history”.
Trump had played the footage during his meeting with Ramaphosa to back his unfounded claims that there South Africa is committing genocide against its white population.
Thambo told Newzroom Afrika that the chant is “directed to a system of oppression where a white minority controls the resources and the land of South Africa, while the black majority continues to be slaves at their behest”.
He added that the apartheid-era chant should not be taken literally, calling Trump an “irrational, illiterate, racist” US president.
“Our reaction is that we’ve caused the necessary shake and debate internationally, and it’s something that we should continue to do and not retreat,” Thambo said.
Photos: Trump and Ramaphosa meet at the White House
Ramaphosa says meeting went ‘very well’ as he leaves White House
South Africa’s leader departed the White House around 3pm (19:00 GMT) after a roughly three-hour visit – including a confrontational Oval Office meeting with Trump.
Asked how the meeting went as he climbed into a black SUV, Ramaphosa replied, “Very well, thank you.”
He offered a similar reply when asked if he thought Trump had heard him out.
“Yes, he did, and it went very well,” Ramaphosa said.
Who is Julius Malema?
Malema shot to prominence in 2008 when, as president of the ANC Youth League, he vehemently defended then-President Jacob Zuma, who was facing prosecution on corruption charges.
“We are prepared to die for Zuma,” Malema famously told a rally. “We are prepared to take up arms and kill for Zuma.”
By 2012, Malema had transformed into Zuma’s biggest critic, and after his expulsion from the ANC, he formed the EFF as a populist, far-left movement.
He first sang “Kill the Boer” (Dubul’ ibhunu) in 2010, while still ANCYL leader, but it has since become something of an EFF calling card.
We published an explainer about the chant earlier this year. Read it here.
What did South African golfer, billionaire tell Trump?
The South African delegation included figures already in Trump’s orbit, including billionaire Johann Rupert and professional golfer Ernie Els.
Both men sought to dispel the notion that white South Africans were being persecuted. Rupert said that while crime is high, it is “across the board. It’s not only white farmers.” He sought to focus the meeting on South Africa’s need for technological development.
Els relayed a similar message.
“Ernie Els knows Donald Trump. He’s known him for a long time. He talks Donald Trump’s language when it comes to golf,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reported from Washington, DC.
“Donald Trump likes speaking to people like that. He said in the Oval Office, ‘I like winners, and Ernie Els is a winner.’”
Trump’s claims represent ‘significant crack’ in US-South Africa relations: Analyst
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Paolo von Schirach, the president of Global Policy Institute in Washington, DC, has said it will be difficult for Ramaphosa and Trump to rebound following today’s Oval Office meeting.
Von Schirach said that the unfounded claims of white “genocide” have “taken on a life its own”.
“We know that Elon Musk certainly fanned this story, and he’s probably not the only one,” he said. “It’s going to be hard for Trump to say, ‘Oh, so sorry. I was misinformed,’” he said.
“This was an ambush, just like the ambush that was organised against President Zelenskyy,” he said, referring to the Ukrainian leader’s February meeting with Trump.
Headlines from South Africa
Here’s how some of the leading news websites have described the tense meeting between Trump and Ramaphosa at the White House:
- The Daily Maverick: Ramaphosa keeps his cool as Trump launches multimedia ambush in Oval Office
- The South African: Donald Trump ambushes Cyril Ramaphosa with ‘genocide’ accusation
- The Sunday Times: Trump blindsides Ramaphosa with clips of Malema singing ‘kill the Boer’
- Independent Online: ‘Why don’t you arrest him?’: Trump challenges Ramaphosa to arrest Julius Malema over ‘Kill the Boer’
- News24: Trump doesn’t rule out attending G20 in SA, moves to closed meeting with Ramaphosa
‘I think it went well for South Africa’: Journalist
South African journalist Carol Paton lauds Ramaphosa’s handling of the public confrontation with Trump at the White House.
“I think it went well for South Africa,” Paton wrote in the website News24. “Trump was determined to humiliate and embarrass Ramaphosa, and he failed. The push back was diplomatically firm and passionate.”
South African politician featured in Trump’s video responds
South African politician Julius Malema, whose comments calling for violence against white South Africans were featured in the video that Trump showed to Ramaphosa, has hit out against both presidents.
“A group of older men meet in Washington to gossip about me,” Malema, the co-founder of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters, wrote in a social media post.
“No significant amount of intelligence evidence has been produced about white genocide. We will not agree to compromise our political principles on land expropriation without compensation for political expediency.”
Malema’s fiery rhetoric has been used by right-wing activists to advance the conspiracy theory about white genocide in South Africa, but the 44-year-old politician presents himself as the leading voice against anti-Black racism in the country.
Oval Office meeting had feeling of ambush
We’ve just seen how sausages are made. And people say you should never see that.
We saw what normally happens behind closed doors during meetings with politicians at this level happening in front of the cameras and the world media.
Donald Trump played a video to Cyril Ramaphosa, who initially looked at it, looked away, frustrated, but then angry that this was happening. He couldn’t quite believe that this was happening in the Oval Office. There was a feeling among South Africans there was a degree of ambush to this.
Trump then produced reams of articles put together by one of his aides, which he said detailed what he has described as a white “genocide” in South Africa.
Cyril Ramaphosa remained, perhaps, the calmest man in the room, trying to explain that that simply wasn’t happening.
There to support his case were likes of Ernie Els and Richard Goosen. Golfers – not international politicians, not people who are involved in the intricacies of governance – but golfers, because the South African delegation knew that that would appeal to Donald Trump.
What happened in chaotic Trump-Ramaphosa meeting
- It began cordially, with both leaders saying they hoped to work together, even as Trump called Ramaphosa “a little controversial”.
- The South African leader initially focused heavily on trade and investments, after his government said it planned to present a deal to Trump.
- But things soon devolved over Trump’s claims of persecution of white South Africans, which he has called “genocide”.
- Trump played a video of Julius Malema, an opposition party leader, calling for white farmers to be killed.
- Ramaphosa responded that he has repeatedly condemned Malema and his statements, which do not reflect the official government position.
- South African billionaire Johann Rupert and professional golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen also pushed back, seeking to frame the issue as a matter of high crime, and not of minority persecution.
- Ramaphosa sought to inject calm throughout, ending the meeting by again inviting Trump to the G20 in South Africa in November.
Trump came prepared to push claims of white persecution with video, articles
With the video and the article printouts, it is clear Trump came to that meeting prepared, wanting to justify these claims that he’s put forward about the white “genocide”.
Now, in that video, we heard Julius Malema, the leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters, chant, “Kill the Boer, kill the white farmers.”
That’s what we’ve heard from him for many years now, and it, of course, is very controversial in South Africa. It does anger a lot of people, specifically those in the white community and makes them feel threatened.
Many feel that it is hate speech. It’s been taken to the Constitutional Court. Others would say it’s not to be taken literally.
We heard from the South African president, as well as his ministers and others in the delegation, saying that there is no genocide in South Africa. Crime data shows only a small number of farmers are killed every year amid a much higher murder rate.
Ramaphosa renews G20 invitation to Trump
The South African president has concluded the contentious meeting by renewing his invitation for Trump to attend the Group of 20 summit that will take place in Johannesburg in November.
“I want you to come to South Africa for a state visit. And I also want you to come and participate in the G20, and I want to gladly hand over to President Trump to take the leadership of the G20 forward,” Ramaphosa said.
The US had refused to participate in previous G20 meetings at the ministerial level in South Africa earlier this year. It is not clear whether Trump will attend the summit in November.
Agriculture minister says majority of farmers want to stay in South Africa
John Steenhuisen, South Africa’s minister of agriculture, has pushed back against the video shown by Trump during the meeting, which included speeches made by the Economic Freedom Fighters party calling for violence against white farmers.
“We have a real safety problem in South Africa, and I don’t think anyone wants to candy-coat that,” said Steenhuisen, a member of the Democratic Alliance party who joined Ramaphosa on his trip.
“Certainly, the majority of South Africa’s commercial and smallholder farmers really do want to stay in South Africa and make it work.”
He added that farm attacks, particularly “stock theft”, affect all farmers in the country and not just white farmers.
Steenhuisen noted that the people in the video are leaders of opposition minority parties in South Africa and said his party joined forces with Ramaphosa “precisely to keep those people out of power.
“We cannot have those people sitting in the Union Buildings making decisions,” he said.
Trump says he hasn’t made up his mind on ‘genocide’ claims
The South African delegation has been seeking to reframe Trump’s claims of persecution of white South Africans to be about the wider issue of crime in the country.
Several ministers, South African golfers and billionaire Johann Rupert all weighed in.
A reporter asked Trump if he had made up his mind on whether genocide was being committed in South Africa. “I haven’t made up my mind,” he replied.
Ramaphosa seeks to calm the situation
The South African leader appeared visibly uncomfortable amid what appeared to be the Trump administration’s preplanned – and public – confrontation with Ramaphosa over alleged persecution of white farmers.
Still, he tried to inject some calm in the exchange, saying, “I really would like us to talk about it and talk about it very calmly.”
“We were taught by Nelson Mandela that whenever there are problems, people need to sit down around the table and talk,” he said. “This is precisely what we would also like to talk about, including, of course, trade matters, investment matters.”
He also sought to inject a bit of levity, responding to Trump’s exchange with a reporter over a jet given by Qatar, saying, “I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give your country.”
Ramaphosa pushes back on video shown by Trump
A portion of the video shown by Trump during the meeting showed speeches made by the Economic Freedom Fighters party calling for violence against white farmers.
Ramaphosa responded that the speeches are “not government policy”.
“We have a multiparty democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves, political parties to adhere to various policies. And in many cases, or in some cases, those policies do not go, align with government policy,” Ramaphosa said.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what [the speaker in the video] was saying,” he said. “They’re a small minority party which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution.”
Ramaphosa denied that land was being confiscated and people were being killed. He acknowledged there was crime in the country, but it affects both white and Black residents.
Trump now showing articles he claims show persecution of white South Africans
The Ramaphosa and Trump meeting has devolved after Trump played a video he claimed showed evidence of white South Africans being persecuted.
He then rifled through a series of articles that he said showed further proof of the persecution.
“They kill the white farmers, and when they kill the white farmers, nothing happens to them,” Trump said.
Rights groups have never found credible evidence supporting genocide claims in South Africa.
Trump responds with video after Ramaphosa pushes back on ‘genocide claims’
The South African leader has said it will take Trump “listening” to stories of South Africans to disprove his unsupported claims of genocide in South Africa.
“It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here … it will take President Trump to listen to them,” he said.
Trump responded that there were “thousands of stories” and documentaries supporting the claim. He then played a video to a visibly uncomfortable Ramaphosa.
It was not clear what the video showed or if it included verified information, but Trump said one portion showed “burial sites of thousands of white farmers”.
Ramaphosa asked him where the footage was from, saying, “This, I’ve never seen.” Trump claimed it was in South Africa.
Trump repeats ‘genocide’ claim in front of Ramaphosa
The first potential friction of the meeting has emerged, with Trump saying his administration accepts refugees fleeing “genocide” when asked about brining white Afrikaners to the US.
“We do have a lot of a lot of people [who] are very concerned with regard to South Africa, and that’s really the purpose of the meeting, and we’ll see how that turns out,” he said.
“But we have many people that feel they’re being persecuted, and they’re coming to the United States. So we take from many of many locations, if we feel there’s persecution or genocide going on,” he said.
He added he would seek an “explanation” from Ramaphosa on the situation. The South African leader did not directly respond to the statement.
Ramaphosa says wants to ‘recalibrate’ ties with US
In his first statements during his meeting with Trump, the South African president has stressed a need to “reset” and “recalibrate” relations.
Trade and investments dominated his statements.
“We want to advance more trade between the two of us,” he said. “And we hope that you will be able to fuel that engagement during our talks.”
“And we also want to discuss issues that have to do with how we promote further investments in both countries,” he said, saying 22 South African countries were currently investing in the US.
Meanwhile, he said almost 600 US companies were investing in South Africa.
“Our links are really long, lasting and we would like to recalibrate those relations between our two countries,” he said.
Trump says Ramaphosa ‘a little controversial’, says will work together
Trump has kicked off his White House meeting with Ramaphosa, saying the pair would be discussing “many things”.
“Some of the things you’ve been reading about in the papers, the media, and I would say that, look, the president is a truly respected man in many, many circles, and in some circles, he’s considered a little controversial,” Trump said without going into specifics.
“But we’re going to be discussing some of the things that are taking place in South Africa, and see if we can help,” he said.
Ramaphosa ‘bringing reinforcements’ with him to the White House
Reporting from Washington, DC
This has the potential to be quite a fiery meeting.
We know that Cyril Ramaphosa tends to be a diplomat, a good negotiator, good with people, and might be able to work Trump around.
He’s bringing reinforcements in the shape of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, two very famous South African golfers, knowing Donald Trump’s love for the game.
And he’s also bringing Johann Rupert, who is South Africa’s richest man with a personal fortune of somewhere about $14bn, and of course, Donald Trump likes rich people, as well.
So, that may be a master stroke by Cyril Ramaphosa. They say that they would like to see frank and constructive discussions in the Oval Office.
Ramaphosa arrives at White House
The South African leader has been greeted with a handshake from Trump.
We’ll bring you more from the meeting shortly.
Person collapses in front of White House before Ramaphosa arrival
A man has collapsed in front of the White House as officials and law enforcement wait for Ramaphosa to arrive.
It was not immediately clear if the individual was working with the US or South Africa.
The man was lifted to his feet by those at the scene and appeared conscious.
Rubio on Afrikaner ‘refugees’: US has ‘right to pick’ who to admit
The Trump administration has all but suspended the US refugee resettlement programme, while carving out an exception for white South Africans, who it argues are facing persecution.
Pressed by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine about the apparent bias in the policy, Rubio asserted executive power over immigration and refugee admission.
“Our foreign policy doesn’t require even-handedness; it requires prioritising the interests of the United States,” Rubio said.
“The United States has a right to pick and choose who they allow in,” he added.
South Africans concerned about concessions to Trump
Ultimately, Ramaphosa is looking to reset the relationship between South Africa and the United States.
As we’ve seen, it’s been very tense over the last few months over a number of issues. But some South Africans fear that Ramaphosa might want to placate Donald Trump in a way that might go against South Africa’s policy and what it is doing, for example, at the ICJ with the case brought against Israel.
But for Ramaphosa, at this point, it would be very important to reset that relationship because of the impact it could have on the economy.
It is also likely he’ll want to correct a lot of the misinformation that stems from the United States, specifically from Donald Trump and one of his top advisers, Elon Musk, who is South African-born.
They have claimed a “genocide” of white people, of the Afrikaner community in South Africa, which is entirely inaccurate. It simply isn’t happening.
Afrikaners brought to US as most refugee resettlement frozen
The Trump administration’s emphasis on the alleged persecution of white Afrikaners from South Africa comes as it has sought to staunch nearly all other forms of refugee admissions into the US.
Shortly after taking office, Trump indefinitely suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), the primary arm through which the federal government processes refugee claims, and cut funding to relocation agencies.
Immigration advocates have accused the administration of failing to comply with orders from federal judges to resume parts of the programme, affecting refugees from places like Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.
As of this week, “the Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban remains largely in place and contracts for key refugee-support organizations remain suspended,” according to the Church World Services organisation.
Still, the Trump administration welcomed 59 white South African Afrikaners in early May. Administration officials have said they could soon relocate more.
Rubio says US ‘very concerned’ over South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cites South Africa’s complaint at the UN top court alleging genocide by Israel against Palestinians to underscore the tensions between the two countries.
“It echoes some of the charges that are being made by some of the biggest enemies of Israel that happened to be ours – whether it’s Iran, whether it’s radical groups that chant, ‘Death to America, Death to Israel’,” Rubio told senators yesterday. “So we’re very concerned about that.”
The top US diplomat added that Washington is “exploring” Ramaphosa’s push to reset ties between the two countries. “But we do so with eyes wide open to what they’ve done so far,” he added.
Who is Ramaphosa?
The 72-year-old South African leader was born in apartheid-era South Africa and became an activist against colonial rule and the subsequent apartheid system.
After earning his law degree, he became a lawyer for the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA). His work with labour unions helped him build political connections.
Ramaphosa later became the secretary-general of the African National Congress shortly after an apartheid-era ban on the party was lifted in 1990. He later served as chairman of the Constitutional Assembly, helping to draft the country’s 1997 constitution.
He became president in 2018, following the resignation of fellow ANC member Jacob Zuma.
Where’s Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’?
As he meets the South African leader, Trump will have an eye on his major tax and budget proposal that is advancing through the House of Representatives.
Trump visited Capitol Hill yesterday to urge lawmakers to pass the bill, which he has portrayed as essential for implementing his vision for the economy.
But the passage of the bill is far from guaranteed. Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, and some right-wing members are objecting to the measure, arguing that it does not cut spending enough and would add trillions to the national debt.
The Rules Committee has been debating the bill since the early hours of Wednesday. If the panel advances the measure, it could go to a floor vote.
The Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 majority, will then have to approve the proposed legislation before Trump signs it into law.
What is genocide? And why have no credible human rights groups found evidence in South Africa?
Trump has accused South Africa of carrying out a “genocide” against white Afrikaners – one of the worst atrocities under international humanitarian law.
The UN’s Genocide Convention defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”, including killings and measures to prevent births.
No credible human rights group or UN agency has documented any genocidal acts by South Africa against its white population. In fact, Afrikaners hold vast economic and political power in the country, and the mostly white centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) party is a coalition partner in Ramaphosa’s government.
Ramaphosa has pointed to the lack of evidence in rejecting Trump’s claim.
“There’s no genocide in South Africa and that is a fact that has been borne out by a lot of evidence people have,” he said last week.
What’s the schedule and who will be at today’s meeting?
Trump will greet Ramaphosa at 11:30am (15:30 GMT), before the pair attend a “bilateral lunch”. At 12:45 pm (16:45 GMT), the duo will hold their official meeting.
Ramaphosa is set to be accompanied by several ministers, as well as South African luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Both Rupert and Els have played golf with Trump and reportedly helped to broker today’s meeting.
Trump’s side is set to include Vice President JD Vance and South African-born billionaire Elon Musk. Musk has been serving as a top adviser to Trump and has for years accused Ramaphosa of pursuing anti-white policies, a claim the South African leader rejects.
Ramaphosa says he will discuss Israel-Palestine, Ukraine with Trump
The South African president has told reporters that he will hold talks with Trump over geopolitical issues, including the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
“All these matters will be on the table for proper discussion,” he said. “We are very rational when it comes to discussing global and geopolitical matters, and we will put South Africa’s interest first.”
South Africa has been outspoken in its criticism of Israeli abuses against Palestinians, and it has spearheaded a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The White House cited the ICJ case in the executive order that cut off US aid to South Africa in February.
“South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice,” it said.
The ICJ has found that South Africa’s genocide allegations against Israel are “plausible”. The case continues to be litigated.
Follow our coverage of the war on Gaza here.
What’s South Africa’s land law at the heart of the Trump-Ramaphosa spat?
Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Bill into law in January after months of debate in parliament due to opposition from the Democratic Alliance (DA) party, which is part of the coalition government.
The law allows the government to seize land from any private owner, white or otherwise, for public purposes and public interests, including infrastructure projects, public service expansion, environmental conservation, land reform, or equitable resource distribution purposes.
While the law spells out fair compensation, it also allows for seizure without compensation in certain instances.
The US has similar laws, known as eminent domain.
White South Africans also collectively own 70 percent of the country’s land, despite making up just 7 percent of the population.
Read more here.
What do we know about a possible trade proposal?
Not much.
A spokesperson for South Africa’s trade ministry has said Ramaphosa will offer Trump a broad trade deal, but declined to provide details.
But reaching a deal will be at the top of the South African leader’s agenda. The US is South Africa’s second-biggest trade partner, after China, and Trump’s April threat of 30 percent tariffs could be devastating if they go into effect.
Meanwhile, a White House official told the Reuters news agency that Trump will likely request that US companies are exempt from South African laws that compel businesses to hire and promote Black South Africans, including a requirement for large companies in some sectors, such as mining and telecommunications, to have a 30 percent equity stake held by disadvantaged groups.
Ramaphosa is unlikely to agree to weaken those rules, but speaking on state television before the meeting, he was clear-eyed about the situation: “Whether we like it or not, we are joined at the hip and we need to be talking to them,” he said.
Business and trade are on the South Africa-US agenda
While the controversy of the US admitting White Afrikaners as “refugees” may be dominating headlines, Ramaphosa has said that trade relations will be at the top of the agenda in his talks with Trump.
“We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal,” he said. “We want to strengthen those relations and we want to consolidate good relations between our two countries.”
Trump to meet South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa at White House
The two presidents will hold talks in Washington, DC, in the early afternoon local time. The meeting comes amid heightened tensions between the US and South Africa.
Trump and other US officials have been vocally criticising South Africa over a land reform law that they say is used to confiscate the property of white Afrikaners.
In the early days of his second presidency, Trump signed a decree cutting off all aid to South Africa and ordering US agencies to “promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees”.
Trump intensified his rhetoric against South Africa earlier this month, baselessly accusing the country of “genocide”.
What else has been happening with the Trump administration?
What else has been happening with the Trump administration?
- Trump announced a “Golden Dome” missile defence programme that would include putting weapons in space for the first time.
- The US president is pushing to advance a huge legislative measure that includes tax cuts through Congress – a bill that is at the core of his economic agenda.
- Venezuela released US citizen Joseph St Clair, a US Air Force veteran, amid diplomatic overtures by the Trump administration towards the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
- A federal US judge rebuked the Trump administration, saying reports of deportations to South Sudan appear to violate a previous court order.
Welcome to our coverage
Hello and thank you for joining our live coverage of United States President Donald Trump’s administration and his upcoming meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.
Stay with our Live team as we bring you all the latest developments, analysis and reactions throughout the day.