Donald Trump once again used the Oval Office as a backdrop to ambush a high-ranking visitor — this time, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In a move to shame the South African leader, Trump showed a video claiming that white farmers are facing genocide in South Africa, which is, of course, not true.
Trump could have done this for two reasons: First, to distract from his own failures and problems, such as his inability to end the war in Ukraine or deal with issues related to a major spending bill. However, there is another underlying, recurring theme: Donald Trump repeatedly blames brown and Black people for crimes they did not commit and seeks to expel as many non-whites from the United States as possible.
His acceptance of nearly 60 white South Africans into the country as "refugees" underscores this intention. His slogan "Make America Great Again" also implies to him and his supporters the idea of "Make America White Again."
After the meeting, Ramaphosa, for his part, said the meeting went "very well" and a spokesperson added that "at some point, this narrative around white persecution in South Africa is going to get tired."
Ramaphosa says Trump meeting went 'very well'
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that his meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, went "very well."
In front of reporters, Ramaphosa and Trump were in the Oval Office discussing what they planned to discuss during their meeting, when the US president unexpectedly played a video that featured highly disputed allegations of a "genocide" against White South Africans.
As the video played, Ramaphosa looked visibly uncomfortable, while Trump repeatedly talked over the visiting president when the South African leader tried to interject or respond to the claims.
This is undoubtedly one of the single greatest moments in presidential history.
Donald Trump asked what it will take for him to believe there is no white genocide going on in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa offers a preposterous answer.
Despite those scenes, Ramaphosa told reporters that "it went very well" as he left the White House.
"We will focus on what we are going to get out of the bilateral meeting with the US," a spokesperson for the South African president added.
During the session's tensest moments, Ramaphosa urged Trump to discuss such divisive racial issues "very calmly," evoking the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist who became South Africa's first black head of state and first democratically elected president after the end of apartheid.
"We were taught by Nelson Mandela that whenever there are problems, people need to sit down around the table and talk about them," he said.
Ramaphosa also tried to steer the conversation into calmer waters, bringing up trade, economic partnerships and even golf in a bid to placate Trump.
Trump shows DR Congo image as proof of 'genocide' in SA
In addition to a video, Donald Trump presented Cyril Ramaphosa with a stack of printed news articles that the US president said contained evidence of an ongoing genocide in South Africa against white people.
As he sifted through the papers, Trump told the South African president that they showed "death of people — death, death, death, horrible death."
He said the press clippings were all from articles that had been published in "the last few days" and said "these are all people that recently got killed."
The disputed allegations of persecution of the white Afrikaner minority — espoused by Trump's ally and adviser, South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk — are a major part of why bilateral ties between the two countries have been so strained in recent months.
Among the stack of documents was an article from February published by a fringe conservative US online publication called "American Thinker," AFP news agency reported.
The article featured an image of Red Cross workers handling body bags, which Trump said was evidence of "burial sites all over the place."
"These are all white farmers that are being buried," he said.
However, contrary to Trump's claim, the image is from a Youtube video of Red Cross workers dealing with the aftermath of a mass jailbreak in the eastern Congolese city of Goma, in which women were raped and burned alive.
Ramaphosa insists 'there is no genocide' after Trump meeting
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted that, contrary to claims made by his US counterpart Donald Trump, there is "no genocide in South Africa."
The issue, which has been central to recently strained ties between the two countries, was dramatically brought up during the encounter in the Oval Office.
Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Trump at the White House, Ramaphosa said "there is just no genocide in South Africa."
During the tense scenes, Ramaphosa and members of his delegation repeatedly denied that minority white South Africans were facing deadly violence and persecution.
The South African delegation did however acknowledge that violent crime is serious issue in their country, while pointing out that the majority of victims are Black.
Despite the tension on display, Ramaphosa said his government would continue holding talks with the Trump administration on a range of issues, including trade and industry, and that they had held "really good in-depth exchanges."
"I was rather pleased that there is a firm agreement and undertaking that we are going to continue engaging. So there is no disengagement. For us that was one of the key outcomes," the South African leader said.
He also said he wants to boost the South African economy with US investments, which he said would help tackle the security issues in his nation.
Ramaphosa also mentioned the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives certain African nations duty-free access to the US market.
The initiative is due to expire in September, and there have been doubts about whether it will be extended given Trump's tariffs and his administration's volatile approach to international trade.
The South African leader said discussions on extending AGOA would continue.
After the Oval Office meeting, the delegations met for a working lunch, which Ramaphosa said was also attended by Trump ally, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk.
Ramaphosa told the press conference that Musk had raised the issue of his Tesla electric cars being made available for sale in South Africa.
The South African president also said that use of Starlink — the satellite internet service owned by Musk's SpaceX — was not discussed during the lunch.
