US President Donald Trump claims Washington skipped the Johannesburg G20 due to alleged rights violations in South Africa and declares Pretoria will not be invited to the 2026 Miami G20 Summit, escalating tensions and threatening to halt US financial support.
In a forceful escalation of diplomatic rhetoric, US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington skipped the recent G20 Summit in Johannesburg due to concerns over alleged human rights violations in South Africa. In the same statement, he announced that South Africa will not be invited to the 2026 G20 Summit, which the United States is scheduled to host in Miami. His remarks, delivered through a sharply worded social media post, mark one of the most direct confrontations with the South African government since his return to office.
The Johannesburg G20 Summit concluded earlier this week, with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa joining counterparts from major global economies. The United States’ absence was widely noted, prompting questions about the reasons behind Washington’s decision. Trump has now asserted that the boycott was motivated by what he describes as South Africa’s “indifference” to severe human rights abuses allegedly impacting white minority communities.
In his post, Trump claimed that South Africa was witnessing “targeted violence” and the “unlawful seizure of farms,” repeating controversial allegations that have circulated in US conservative media circles for years. “To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them,” he wrote, accusing Pretoria of ignoring the problem and international media organisations of deliberately avoiding coverage of the issue.
Trump specifically criticised The New York Times and what he termed “Fake News Media,” alleging that major outlets had become unwilling to report on the matter. He argued that “Radical Left Media” groups were losing credibility and shutting down because they failed to address human rights concerns that he believes deserve global attention.
The US President further alleged that at the closing ceremony of the Johannesburg summit, South Africa refused to transfer the G20 presidency to a senior official from the US Embassy who was present on site. Trump described this as a deliberate diplomatic slight, adding that the move demonstrated what he called South Africa’s “unworthiness” to participate in multilateral forums.
“Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will not be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year,” Trump wrote. The United States is poised to host the summit as part of the regular rotational schedule for G20 leadership.
Escalating his position even further, Trump declared that Washington would “stop all payments and subsidies” to South Africa with immediate effect. However, the president did not specify which funds or programmes would be affected. The US currently contributes to multiple initiatives in South Africa, including health-sector aid, development financing, educational partnerships, and climate-related funding. The post also did not clarify whether administrative orders, legislation, or inter-agency processes had been initiated to enforce the freeze in assistance.
As of now, the South African government has not issued an official response to Trump’s allegations or to the implied financial and diplomatic consequences. Historically, Pretoria has strongly denied claims that violence against farmers constitutes race-targeted attacks, maintaining that crime affects communities across racial lines and that land reform in the country is carried out under constitutional frameworks.
The accusations referenced by Trump have been debated for years within South Africa, where government officials, civil society groups, and political analysts have frequently criticised the narrative as misleading and politically motivated. International observers, including several rights organisations, have previously stated that while rural violence and land disputes do exist, there is insufficient evidence to classify these issues as systematic or race-based campaigns.
The relationship between the United States and South Africa has traditionally included robust engagement across a wide range of sectors, from trade and defence cooperation to public health and renewable-energy initiatives. Yet the two countries have also experienced periodic disagreements over geopolitical alignments, sanctions regimes, and global governance principles.
Trump’s latest comments represent a sharp intensification of diplomatic tensions and raise questions about the future of US–South Africa relations, particularly within the context of G20 cooperation. Analysts say that excluding a G20 member could trigger significant debate among other nations, potentially reshaping the dynamics of global economic governance ahead of the 2026 summit.
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For now, the international community awaits an official rebuttal from Pretoria and further clarification from Washington on the potential geopolitical impact of Trump’s move.
