Trump hosts Ramaphosa for talks as South African leader looks to salvage relationship with US

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for White House talks Wednesday astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile relations betwixt the 2 countries are astatine a nadir, with Trump laying into South African officials connected wide rejected charges of allowing a “genocide” against number achromatic farmers.

South African officials person powerfully pushed backmost against Trump's accusation and Ramaphosa sought the gathering to acceptable the grounds consecutive and salvage his country’s narration with the United States. The bilateral narration is astatine its lowest constituent since South Africa enforced its apartheid strategy of radical segregation, which ended successful 1994.

Ramaphosa was greeted by Trump arsenic helium arrived astatine the White House soon aft noon for a luncheon and Oval Office talks with Trump.

Trump has chopped each U.S. assistance to South Africa and welcomed respective twelve achromatic South African farmers to the U.S. arsenic refugees.

He has launched a bid of accusations astatine South Africa’s Black-led government, including that it is seizing onshore from achromatic farmers, enforcing anti-white policies and pursuing an anti-American overseas policy.

Trump issued an enforcement order successful February cutting each backing to South Africa implicit immoderate of its home and overseas policies. The bid criticized the South African authorities connected aggregate fronts, saying it is pursuing anti-white policies astatine location and supporting “bad actors” successful the satellite similar the Palestinian militant radical Hamas and Iran.

In beforehand of the meeting, a White House authoritative said Trump’s topics of treatment with Ramaphosa were apt to see the request to condemn politicians who “promote genocidal rhetoric” and to classify workplace attacks arsenic a precedence crime. The official, who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon interior planning, said Trump besides was apt to rise South African race-based barriers to commercialized and the request to “stop scaring disconnected investors.”

Trump falsely accused the South African authorities of a rights usurpation against achromatic Afrikaner farmers by seizing their onshore done a caller expropriation law. No onshore has been seized and the South African authorities has pushed back, saying U.S. disapproval is driven by misinformation.

The Trump administration’s references to the Afrikaner radical — who are descendants of Dutch and different European settlers — person besides elevated erstwhile claims made by Trump’s South African-born advisor Elon Musk and immoderate blimpish U.S. commentators that the South African authorities is allowing attacks connected achromatic farmers successful what amounts to a genocide.

That has been disputed by experts successful South Africa, who accidental determination is nary grounds of whites being targeted, though farmers of each races are victims of convulsive location invasions successful a state that suffers from a precise precocious transgression rate.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio connected Tuesday said Trump remains acceptable to “reset” relations with South Africa, but noted that the administration's concerns astir South African policies chopped adjacent deeper past the concerns astir achromatic farmers.

South Africa has besides angered the Trump White House implicit its determination to bring charges astatine the International Court of Justice accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians successful Gaza. Ramaphosa has besides faced scrutiny successful Washington for his past connections to MTN Group, Iran’s second-largest telecom provider. It owns astir fractional of Irancell, a associated task linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ramaphosa served arsenic committee seat of MTN from 2002 to 2013.

“When 1 state is consistently unaligned with the United States connected contented aft contented aft contented aft issue, present you go -- you person to marque conclusions astir it,” Rubio told Senate Foreign Relation Committee members astatine a Tuesday hearing.

With the heavy differences, Ramaphosa appeared to beryllium taking steps to debar the benignant of contentious engagement that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy experienced during his precocious February Oval Office visit, erstwhile the Ukrainian person recovered himself being berated by Trump and Vice President JD Vance. That disastrous gathering with White House officials asking Zelenskyy and his delegation to permission the White House grounds.

The South African president's delegation was expected to see golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen successful his delegation, a motion to the play obsessed U.S. president. Luxury goods tycoon and Afrikaner Johann Rupert was besides included arsenic portion of the delegation to assistance easiness Trump's concerns astir onshore being seized from achromatic farmers.

Musk was besides expected to be Wednesday's talks.

Musk has been astatine the forefront of the disapproval of his homeland, casting its affirmative enactment laws arsenic racist against whites.

Musk has said connected societal media that his Starlink outer net work isn’t capable to get a licence to run successful South Africa due to the fact that helium is not Black.

South African authorities accidental Starlink hasn’t formally applied. It can, but it would beryllium bound by affirmative enactment laws successful the communications assemblage that necessitate overseas companies to let 30% of their South African subsidiaries to beryllium owned by shareholders who are Black oregon from different radical groups disadvantaged nether apartheid.

The South African authorities says its long-standing affirmative enactment laws are a cornerstone of its efforts to close the injustices of the achromatic number regularisation of apartheid, which denied opportunities to Blacks and different radical groups.

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Imray reported from Johannesburg. AP writers Seung Min Kim, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville contributed reporting.

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