Trump says South Africa 'should not even be in the G20'
US President Donald Trump says South Africa should no longer be part of the Group of 20 major economies.
He has repeatedly accused the country of confiscating land and treating certain classes of people “very badly”, calling it a massive human rights violation.
South Africa is preparing to host the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg later this month, where US Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend.
Trump told the American Business Forum in Miami that bad things are happening in South Africa.
“Look at South Africa, what’s going on. Look at South America, what’s going on. We have a G20 meeting in South Africa. South Africa shouldn’t even be in the Gs anymore, because what’s happened there is bad.
“I’m not going, I told them I’m not going. I’m not going to be representing our country there. It shouldn’t be there.”
The Trump administration announced last week that it would cut its annual refugee quota to a record low of 7,500, with priority for whites from South Africa's Afrikaner community and "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands".
Pretoria and Washington have been at loggerheads for months over US allegations that the post-apartheid government persecutes the minority white population, including widely rejected claims of a "white genocide".
After President Donald Trump in May offered refugee status to Afrikaners, a first group of around 50 were flown to the United States on a chartered plane.
Others reportedly followed in smaller numbers and on commercial flights, but it is unclear how many have taken up the offer.
As ties soured between the two countries this year, Washington expelled Pretoria's ambassador in March and imposed 30% tariffs on South African goods in August, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa has been working to negotiate a better deal to avoid massive job losses for a sputtering economy with a 33% unemployment rate.
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