South Africa’s leader aims to salvage relationship with Trump in White House visit

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press JOHANNESBURG AP U S President Donald Trump will host South Africa s leader at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting that might be tense after Trump accused the country s leadership of allowing a genocide to take place against minority white farmers South Africa has strongly rejected the allegation and President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed for the meeting with Trump in an attempt to salvage his country s relationship with the United States which is at its lowest point since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation in Trump has launched a series of accusations at South Africa s Black-led regime including that it is seizing land from white farmers enforcing anti-white policies and pursuing an anti-American foreign protocol President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he arrives for a meeting with the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Tuesday May in Washington AP Photo Rod Lamkey Jr Ramaphosa explained he hopes to correct what he calls damaging mischaracterizations during the meeting which is Trump s first with an African leader at the White House since he returned to office Several in South Africa worry their leader might get Zelenskyy d a reference to the residents bashing Trump and Vice President JD Vance handed out to the Ukrainian president in their infamous Oval Office meeting in February In advance of the meeting a White House official mentioned Trump s topics of discussion with Ramaphosa were likely to include the need to condemn politicians who promote genocidal rhetoric and to classify farm attacks as a priority crime The official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning declared Trump also was likely to raise South African race-based obstructions to business and the need to stop scaring off investors Here s what to know ahead of the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting Will Trump stand by the genocide allegation Trump s criticism of South Africa began in early February in a post on Truth Social when he accused South Africa s executive of seizing land from white Afrikaner farmers and a massive Human Rights VIOLATION against members of the white minority Afrikaner refugees from South Africa holding American flags arrive Monday May at Dulles International Airport in Dulles Va AP Photo Julia Demaree Nikhinson Trump s allegation that Afrikaners were being mistreated was at the center of an executive order he issued days later that cut all U S assistance to South Africa He went further this month alleging there was a genocide against white farmers and the Trump administration has brought a small group of white South Africans to the U S as refugees in what it says is the start of a larger relocation venture The U S has been sought if it will stand by the genocide allegation Secretary of State Marco Rubio disclosed in an interview with CBS that it would and that the administration felt there was evidence citing instances of white farmers being murdered and claiming certain were being forcibly removed from their properties Certain white farmers have been killed in violent home invasions But the South African executive says the causes behind the relatively small number of homicides are misunderstood by the Trump administration they are part of the country s severe problems with crime and not racially motivated it says Black farmers have also been killed The South African ruling body has commented the claims against it are misinformation South African Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen who is white and a member of a different political party from Ramaphosa announced in an interview with The Associated Press that no land was being seized from farmers and alleges of genocide were false When you mischaracterize things like that and this misinformation gets out it does have real-world consequences stated Steenhuisen who is part of the South African delegation in Washington Kill the farmer chant The White House official disclosed Trump would also likely impress on Ramaphosa the need for the South African cabinet to publicly condemn politicians who repeat an apartheid-era chant that contains the lyrics kill the farmer and shoot the farmer The chant is sometimes used at political rallies by a minority opposition party It has often been cited by critics of South Africa including South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk as evidence of the persecution of white farmers because it uses the word Boer which specifically refers to Afrikaners While Ramaphosa s party does not use the chant the leadership has not condemned it An Afrikaner group says it should be labelled hate speech What is Musk s connection Musk has been at the forefront of the criticism of his homeland casting its affirmative action business laws as racist Musk reported on social media that his Starlink satellite internet facility wasn t able to get a license to operate in South Africa because he was white Related Articles Justice Dept assessing former New York Gov Cuomo over pandemic testimony AP source says Venezuela frees US Air Force veteran considered wrongfully detained his family says Hegseth orders new review of Afghanistan withdrawal and suicide bombing at Kabul airport Biden s office says his last known prostate cancer screening was in Rubio defends Trump s foreign guidelines as Democrats press him on Gaza aid and white South Africans South African personnel say Starlink hasn t formally applied If it did it would be bound by laws that require foreign companies to allow of their South African subsidiaries to be owned by shareholders who are Black or from other racial groups disadvantaged under apartheid The Trump administration considered those laws a commerce barrier and U S companies should be exempt from racial requirements according to the White House official Bloomberg communicated Tuesday quoting unnamed sources that South Africa was willing to negotiate on easing the laws for Musk s Starlink in an attempt to defuse tensions with the U S Ramaphosa didn t comment on any workable discussions with Musk or his representatives when solicited by South African reporters in Washington Getting Zelenskyy d Ramaphosa was also inquired if he worried he might be humiliated in a residents appearance with Trump Parts of the South African media have questioned whether Ramaphosa might get Zelenskyy d at the White House a reference to Trump s berating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of the world s media Trump has directed much of his criticism at Ramaphosa and senior leadership administrators accusing them of doing several terrible things Ramaphosa mentioned the meeting would focus on business and normalizing relations and he was not concerned it would become confrontational or that he would be humiliated South Africans are never humiliated are they South Africans constantly go into everything holding their heads high he commented AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this analysis