President Donald Trump on Wednesday night barred South Africa from participating in the 2026 G20 summit and ordered an immediate halt to all American financial assistance, accusing Pretoria of disrespecting the United States at last week’s G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump justified these measures by citing South Africa’s refusal to symbolically transfer the G20 presidency to a senior US Embassy representative at the close of the Johannesburg summit, which Washington boycotted.
“At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a senior representative from our US Embassy, who attended the closing ceremony,” he wrote.
“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.”
He said South Africa “has demonstrated to the world that they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”
Trump further defended his decision by repeating controversial claims about human rights conditions in South Africa.
“The United States did not attend the G20 in South Africa because the South African government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific human rights abuses endured by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers,” he posted.
“To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them.”
The announcement marks the sharpest escalation yet in a diplomatic confrontation that has simmered for years.
Tensions deepened after Trump’s Executive Order 14204 in February 2025, which directed US agencies to facilitate resettlement of white South African Afrikaners described as victims of racial discrimination.
Relations were further strained by South Africa’s 2023 case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Gaza, a move that angered Washington.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya responded late Wednesday, insisting Pretoria remains “a full, active and constructive member of the G20.”
He urged G20 members to uphold multilateralism and equal participation, calling Trump’s measures “punitive” and based on “misinformation and distortions.”
“It is regrettable that, despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset diplomatic relations with the United States, President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions,” Magwenya said.
JN/APA