President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States will not send any government officials to the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, escalating a months-long diplomatic dispute between Washington and Pretoria. Trump said the withdrawal was a protest against what he described as “human rights abuses” and the treatment of Afrikaner (white) farmers — claims that South African leaders and outside observers say are unfounded.
Trump posted on his social platform that “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” and repeated allegations that Afrikaners “are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.” He said the U.S. would not attend “as long as these Human Rights abuses continue” and added that he looks forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami. The summit in Johannesburg is scheduled to begin on Nov. 22, 2025.
The White House move turns a previously bitter bilateral spat into a public diplomatic rebuke at a major international meeting. The Trump administration earlier this year adjusted refugee and immigration rules in ways critics say privileged white South Africans, and it has imposed tariffs and other measures that have strained relations. U.S. officials have pointed to land-reform legislation and a recent flareup of inflammatory rhetoric in South Africa as part of the rationale for their stance.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and other South African officials have strongly denied there is any state-sponsored campaign of violence or “genocide” against white citizens, saying white South Africans remain economically advantaged decades after apartheid and rejecting the characterization advanced by Mr. Trump. Pretoria has pushed back on U.S. claims in statements and diplomatic exchanges.
The announcement prompted immediate reactions across the political spectrum and the global media. Some U.S. officials echoed the boycott — Republican Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said he would not attend a G20 meeting earlier this year. Other foreign leaders and analysts warned that a U.S. absence would undercut the summit’s ability to address global economic, climate and development issues that South Africa has been seeking to put at the center of its presidency.
With Washington formally withdrawing representatives, the G20 in Johannesburg is likely to proceed without U.S. ministers or envoys unless the White House reverses course. The diplomatic dispute is expected to complicate bilateral talks on trade and development and to be a prominent item on the summit sidelines, even if core multilateral discussions continue among the remaining members.
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