Trump, South African President has tense exchanges in the Oval Office – Country
U.S. President Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, but included a gathering in the presence of Elon Musk, who quickly turned acid when Trump made unfounded claims of a “white genocide” in the country.
Less than a week after Trump raised the topic of racial persecution of white Africa Dutch, about 60 people were granted accelerated U.S. citizenship.
During the nervous, awkward meeting, Trump diluted the lights to play the camera, saying he proved his unproven claims about white genocide.
Earlier this year, Trump accused the South African government of fueling anti-white racism, leading to the killing of white farmers, which Ramaphosa and the South African government vehemently denied.
Video shows a populist politician playing controversial anti-apartheid songs, including lyrics about killing farmers.
After a short video, Trump said: “People fled South Africa for safety.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (CL) and U.S. President Donald Trump (CR) played videos on May 21, 2025 at the White House Oval Office in Washington, DC.
chip somodevilla/getty images
Ramaphosa delays allegations against Trump and tries to change the subject.
“We are totally opposed to this,” Ramaphosa said of the alleged behaviors Trump said.
Experts in South Africa say no race is a victim of violent family invasions in a country with high crime rates, but there is no evidence that whites are targeted.
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Ramaphosa tried to change the course and said he wanted to meet with Trump to “reset” and “recalibrate” relations between the United States and South Africa and improve trade relations.
Meanwhile, Trump said the purpose of the meeting was to calm fear of African countries, saying: “We have a lot of people who are very concerned about the preference for South Africa.”
The president did not designate who expressed concern or what, despite his decision to the government defeated a group of white Afrikaans who claimed to have escaped persecution from their home country.
“If we think there is persecution or genocide, we'll ride from many places,” Trump said.
Later, Trump was asked what it takes to be sure that there is no white genocide in South Africa, and Ramaphosa interjected, “I can answer,” he said.
“I would rather let him answer,” Trump replied.
“President Trump will listen to South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, just like the people here when we talk to each other around the quiet table, President Trump will need their voices.”
“I won’t repeat what I’m talking about…If there are African farmers genocide, I can bet you three men [gestures to delegates off screen] Not here, including my Minister of Agriculture, he will not be with me. So President Trump will take him to listen to their stories, from their perspective. That's the answer to your question,” he concluded.
Trump claims there are “thousands of stories” that documentaries and news reports are being reported. “I can tell you,” he said.
“Show me,” Ramaphosa replied.
Trump then asked his staff to “prepare articles” and “turn on the lights”, and the improvised video began to play, showing evidence of Trump's assertions being “white genocide.”
The White House later posted the video to its official X account. (There is no proof of authorization in the video or confirmation that there is no introduction in the video.)
Trump said the video included footage of the graves of about 1,000 killed white farmers.
Ramaphosa watched the video more deeply, then turned to Trump and asked, “Where did they tell you, Mr. President?”
“I want to know where that is because I've never seen it before,” Ramaphosa said.
Trump did not respond.
Shortly after the film ended, Trump shut down questions about the Katari jets that his administration was accepted as a gift, which would eventually replace Air Force One.
“What are you talking about?” he replied.
“You have to get out of here, what does these responses have to do with the Katari Jets?” he continued, the deal was “awesome”.
“You're a bad journalist…you're not smart enough,” he added. He accused NBC News reporters of purposefully removing conversations from the course, and then confirmed that the Catari authorities also promised $51 trillion in investment in the United States
“You are a shame, no more problems,” Trump concluded.
After about three hours of visit, Ramaphosa left the White House at about 3 p.m. When asked about the meeting, when he climbed into the black SUV, Ramaphosa said, “Good, thank you.”
He also provided a similar response when asked if he thought Trump heard him say it.
“Yes, he did it and it went well,” Ramaphosa said.
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– Documents with the Associated Press
& Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
