Trump to meet South African president amid deteriorating relations

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the opening league of the G20 overseas ministers gathering successful Johannesburg, South Africa successful February. Jerome Delay/AP hide caption

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Jerome Delay/AP

JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa volition question to Washington adjacent week to conscionable President Trump astatine the White House connected Wednesday "to sermon bilateral, determination and planetary issues of interest," his bureau has announced.

The sojourn comes arsenic relations betwixt the U.S. and South Africa are astatine their lowest since the extremity of apartheid. Trump has repeatedly claimed that "terrible things are happening" successful South Africa, and invited Afrikaners to use for exile presumption successful the U.S. On Monday, the archetypal radical of immoderate 59 achromatic South Africans who had been approved arrived successful Washington connected a U.S. government-chartered plane.

The connection from Ramaphosa's bureau said that adjacent week's sojourn "provides a level to reset the strategical relations betwixt the 2 countries."

In February, Trump chopped each assistance to South Africa – a longtime state of the U.S. – successful an enforcement order. The bid cited the information that the South African authorities – a steadfast protagonist of Palestinians – accused Israel of genocide for its warfare against Hamas successful Gaza, filing a suit successful the International Court of Justice successful the Hague. It besides alleged, without evidence, that achromatic South Africans of Dutch descent, known arsenic Afrikaners, were being persecuted due to the fact that of their race.

Refugee nonprofits noted the Trump administration gave the radical that arrived connected Monday an bonzer reception not usually fixed to refugees – with high-ranking authorities section officials turning retired to invited them. The Afrikaners, including children, were fixed tiny American flags to question and were told by Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau that "it is specified an grant to person you here."

Landau drew parallels with the Afrikaners' accomplishment successful "the onshore of the free" and his ain family's acquisition fleeing Nazi Germany.

The spectacle near galore South Africans watching astatine location incredulous and saw Ramaphosa marque his strongest remarks connected the substance yet. He said the radical of Afrikaners were "cowards," due to the fact that they conscionable didn't privation to unrecorded successful the caller South Africa, which has Black-majority rule. He said galore longed for the aged days of apartheid.

He dismissed claims by Trump, and his South African-born advisor Elon Musk, that Afrikaners are having their onshore confiscated oregon are being unfairly treated, noting, "We're the lone state connected the continent wherever the colonizers came to enactment and we person ne'er driven them retired of our country."

Ramaphosa said helium talked to Trump astir the resettlements connected the phone, and tried to clarify the issue, saying the U.S. person had got "the incorrect extremity of the stick."

Next week, he'll get a accidental to remake his statement successful person.

But contempt experts and information contradicting Trump's claims astir South Africa, the U.S. medication has continued with its broadsides against Pretoria, including refusing to instrumentality portion successful G20 events the state is hosting this twelvemonth arsenic the group's existent president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also kicked retired the caller ambassador from South Africa earlier this twelvemonth — accusing him of being a "race baiting politician" and hating Donald Trump.

Ramaphosa is simply a seasoned negotiator, who was instrumental successful the talks that saw the modulation from apartheid to ideology successful the 1990s. However, immoderate South Africans took to societal media saying they are acrophobic Trump could beryllium intending to humiliate him, noting the present infamous Oval Office gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this year.