President Donald Trump announced on Friday that no representatives of his administration will attend this year’s G20 summit in South Africa, citing what he described as mistreatment of white Afrikaner farmers.
Trump had already said he would not personally attend the annual gathering of leaders from major and emerging economies. Sen. JD Vance had been due to represent the United States, but a person familiar with his plans, speaking on background, said Vance will no longer travel to the summit.
On his social media platform, Trump called it “a total disgrace” that the G20 would convene in South Africa and accused the South African government of tolerating abuses against Afrikaners, including violence, deaths and the seizure of land and farms.
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused South Africa of permitting attacks and persecution of a minority of white farmers. In separate policy moves, the administration set the annual refugee admissions limit at 7,500 and indicated that a significant share of those slots would be allocated to white South Africans it says face discrimination and violence.
South African officials have pushed back on those allegations. The government said it was surprised by the accusations and noted that, more than three decades after apartheid ended, white South Africans generally still have higher standards of living than Black citizens. President Cyril Ramaphosa told Trump that claims of widespread discrimination and persecution of Afrikaners are “completely false.”
Despite South Africa’s rebuttals, the administration has continued its criticisms. During an economic address in Miami earlier this week, Trump went further and suggested South Africa should be expelled from the G20.
Earlier in the year, Republican Senator Marco Rubio also boycotted a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, objecting to parts of the agenda that emphasized diversity, inclusion and climate change.
The U.S. decision not to send officials to the summit marks a rare and public rift between Washington and Pretoria over human rights and policy priorities, and it will leave the U.S. without formal representation at the talks.
