Trump Declines to Send US Officials to G20 Summit in South Africa

Former US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that no American government officials will attend the upcoming G20 Summit in South Africa later this month, citing what he described as ongoing human rights violations in the country.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that it was “a total disgrace” for the G20 Summit to be held in South Africa, claiming that Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers, were being “slaughtered and killed” and that their land and farms were being seized illegally.

Trump added that no US officials would participate “as long as these human rights abuses continue,” while expressing his intention to host the G20 Summit in Miami, Florida, in 2026.

According to a source familiar with the matter, US Vice President J.D. Vance, who had been expected to attend the leaders’ meeting in Johannesburg on 22–23 November, will no longer take part.

Trump had already ruled out attending the summit himself back in July, initially suggesting he would send another representative before deciding against sending any officials at all. His administration has long accused South Africa’s government of allowing violence and discrimination against white Afrikaner farmers.

The administration also reduced the annual cap on refugees allowed into the US to 7,500, indicating that many would be white South Africans allegedly facing persecution and violence at home.

However, the South African government rejected the claims, saying white citizens generally enjoy a far higher standard of living than Black South Africans, more than three decades after the end of apartheid. President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly told Trump that such claims were “completely false,” according to the Associated Press.

Despite this, the Trump administration continued to criticize South Africa. Earlier this week, Trump said in a speech in Miami that South Africa should be expelled from the G20.

Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also boycotted a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, criticizing its focus on diversity, inclusion, and climate change issues.