Trump confronts South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with ‘white genocide’ videos during White House meeting

A White House meeting aimed at resetting US–South Africa ties erupted into confrontation on Wednesday when former President Donald Trump presented President Cyril Ramaphosa with unverified claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa. The unexpected moment unfolded during a live press event in the Oval Office, as Trump abruptly dimmed the lights and ordered aides to play a video featuring dramatic imagery and incendiary political clips.

“We have thousands of stories talking about it. We have documentaries, we have news stories,” Trump declared, instructing aides: “Turn the lights on, and just put this on.”

The video, later posted to the White House’s X account as “Proof of Persecution in South Africa”, showed Afrikaner gravesites, protest crosses, and Julius Malema—the firebrand leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters—singing inflammatory slogans like “Shoot the Boer, shoot the farmer”.


Ramaphosa, visibly caught off-guard, turned to his delegation and laughed. “Have they told you where that is?” he asked before calmly responding: “What you saw—the speeches that were made... that is not government policy. We have a multiparty democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves.”

Ramaphosa pushes back: “Our policy is against that”

The South African leader firmly refuted the genocide narrative. “Our government policy is completely against what he [Malema] was saying even in the Parliament,” Ramaphosa said, adding that Malema’s EFF is a “small minority party, which is allowed to exist according to our constitution”.

Trump doubled down, claiming: “But you do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and when they kill the white farmer nothing happens to them.” Ramaphosa replied simply: “No.”

He also reminded Trump of the white members of his delegation, including golfing icons Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert. “If there was a genocide, these three gentlemen would not be here,” he said.

Farm attacks, land reform and racial rhetoric

The meeting followed the recent arrival of 59 white South African refugees to the US, after Trump's administration quietly granted them expedited asylum. The shift in immigration policy—at odds with Trump’s general stance—was supported by Afrikaner lobby groups and stirred controversy in South Africa. Ramaphosa had earlier called those who fled “cowards”.

A law allowing land expropriation without compensation, passed earlier this year, remains unimplemented. Nonetheless, it has sparked global criticism. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who attended the meeting, has claimed the law restricts his company Starlink from operating in South Africa due to Black Economic Empowerment rules.

Still, South African crime statistics from 2024 undermine Trump’s claims. Between October and December, 9,894 murders were recorded, but only 12 occurred on farms—just one involving a farmer. Most victims were likely black, and race is not tracked in official reporting.

“The farmers are not black. I don’t say that’s good or bad, but the farmers are not black,” Trump said, while pointing to footage of white crosses. The symbolic Witkruis Monument, often misrepresented, commemorates all victims of farm violence, regardless of race.

“A trap was set”: Diplomacy derailed

Former US ambassador to South Africa, Helena Humphrey, labelled the scene “truly embarrassing”, saying, “It is clear that a trap was set for the South African president... there was every intention to humiliate him.”

South Africa’s Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, who was present, tried to steer the discussion back to facts. “Most farmers want to stay,” he stated, reiterating the government’s commitment to protecting all agricultural workers.

Ramaphosa had entered the meeting aiming to thaw diplomatic ties, particularly around looming tariffs on South African exports. He brought goodwill gifts and even joked, “I’ve started practising [golf], so I’m ready.” But that light-hearted tone quickly faded.

Asked what he hoped to gain from the ambush, Trump said only, “We’re going to talk about it.”

Afrikaner groups and Elon Musk’s influence

Afriforum, the Afrikaner interest group often accused of inflaming racial tensions, denied making the White House video but admitted, “We have used some of that footage.” CEO Kallie Kriel told the BBC, “That video was very important to just get the shift to a situation that there can’t be denialism.”

Elon Musk, meanwhile, was credited by Trump for prompting the display. “This is what Elon wanted,” he said. But later added that Musk was “not directly involved”.

Malema, mocked throughout the meeting, reacted with derision. “A group of older men meet in Washington to gossip about me,” he posted on X. “No significant amount of intelligence evidence has been produced about white genocide.”

No international human rights body has recognised any form of white genocide in South Africa. Earlier this year, a South African judge dismissed such claims in a court case involving a white supremacist group, calling them “clearly imagined”.

As the lights came back on in the Oval Office, it was clear the meeting had shifted far from its original goal. Ramaphosa, channeling Mandela, closed with a reminder of his country’s democratic journey and its commitment to racial reconciliation.

But Trump’s performance left little room for diplomacy.