Trump, Ramaphosa Clash Over White Genocide Claims

US President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had a tense exchange in the Oval Office over Trump's claim of "White genocide" in South Africa. Trump showed a video allegedly showing violence against White South Africans, which Ramaphosa disputed, saying it didn't represent government policy. Ramaphosa stated that crime in South Africa affects people of all demographics, not just Whites. The meeting was attended by Elon Musk, who had previously shared the same video on social media. Trump also mentioned that Musk had wanted the US to accept White Afrikaners as refugees, which the US did last week, granting them refugee status. Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's claims, saying that the issue is not White genocide but rather general crime in South Africa.

Donald Trump made several contested claims about the killings of white farmers in South Africa during a tense Oval Office meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Trump claimed that rows of crosses in a video were burial sites for over 1,000 white farmers, but the crosses were actually a temporary memorial for a murdered farming couple. Trump also alleged a "genocide" of white farmers, despite South Africa's murder statistics not supporting this claim. In reality, 44 people were killed in the farming community in the previous year, with eight being farmers. The Transvaal Agricultural Union reported 23 white people and nine black people were killed in farm attacks last year. Trump also misidentified opposition politician Julius Malema and former President Jacob Zuma as government "officials" who called for violence against white farmers, when they were actually leading chants at political rallies. Additionally, one of the articles Trump presented as evidence was actually about women being killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not South Africa. A South African judge had previously dismissed the idea of a "white genocide" as "clearly imagined" and "not real".

President Donald Trump is set to meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House amid strained relations between the two countries. Trump recently accused South Africa of committing genocide against White Afrikaner farmers, a claim denied by the South African government. The meeting is expected to be tense, with several contentious issues on the table, including South Africa's support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, its trade and military links with Iran and Russia, and a land expropriation law that has raised concerns about the treatment of White Afrikaner farmers. Ramaphosa's ruling party, the ANC, has also taken legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide. Despite the tensions, analysts expect Ramaphosa to remain calm and diplomatic during the meeting, as he has a history of successful negotiations with adversaries. The South African president is under pressure to secure a deal, given his country's economic stagnation and high unemployment rate, and is expected to offer new business deals to the US, including on natural gas, minerals, and agricultural products.

US President Donald Trump presented evidence to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa claiming white farmers in South Africa are being targeted and killed, but multiple pieces of this evidence are inaccurate. A video shown by Trump allegedly depicting over 1,000 burial sites of white farmers was actually a memorial for murdered farm workers, not necessarily white farmers. Other evidence included a mislabeled image of Red Cross workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and videos of opposition party leader Julius Malema, misrepresented as government officials. South Africa's police data shows farm killings are a small proportion of overall murders, around 0.2%, contradicting Trump's claims of genocide.

President Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, where he pressed Ramaphosa on the debunked myth of "White genocide" in South Africa, showing a particular interest in the welfare of Afrikaners, while seemingly ignoring the plight of other refugees.