President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are scheduled to meet at the White House on May 21, following recent tensions between the two nations. The meeting comes just days after the U.S. welcomed 59 white South Africans as refugees, part of what the Trump administration describes as a relocation plan for Afrikaner farmers allegedly facing persecution.
Trump has claimed that white farmers in South Africa are victims of “genocide,” an allegation South Africa firmly denies. The South African government maintains that while any violence against farmers is condemnable, these incidents are part of broader crime issues and not racially motivated.
The meeting represents the first engagement between Trump and an African leader since his return to office in January. Ramaphosa’s office indicated the visit aims to “reset the strategic relationship between the two countries.”
Relations have been strained since Trump issued an executive order in February cutting U.S. funding to South Africa, citing what he called anti-white policies and anti-American foreign policy positions. Trump has specifically criticized South Africa’s affirmative action laws and a land expropriation law that allows the government to take private land without compensation under certain circumstances.
Despite these tensions, Ramaphosa has expressed a desire to engage diplomatically with Trump and improve bilateral relations, asserting that the U.S. president’s criticisms are based on misinformation about South African policies.