US President Donald Trump gestures during a meeting with South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Oval Office on My 21, 2025. /SCREENGRAB
The meeting between Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa followed a now-familiar script – with the guest praising the US president and promising new and fruitful economic cooperation.
It went sideways from there.
After playing what was presented as a video documentary of hate speech and genocide directed against white South African farmers, Trump accused Ramaphosa’s government of confiscating land and turning a blind eye to the murder.
It was a remarkable scene – one that immediately drew parallels to the acrimonious meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
Unlike Zelensky, however, Ramaphosa did not lose his composure. He said he would address the American concerns. He denounced the "kill the Boer" chants of what he said were minority out-of-government parties. He referenced Nelson Mandela. And he brought in Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen – who is white – to discuss how crime is a public safety problem that threatens both white and black South Africans.
Ramaphosa may not leave Washington with the trade deals that he had hoped for, but he also survived what could have been a much more serious blow to US-South Africa relations.
As Trump ambushed him, Ramaphosa stayed calm - and tried to work his charm.
He invoked the name of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, saying South Africa remained committed to racial reconciliation. He blamed the killing of white farmers on criminality, and suggested that US technology could help combat it.
When a journalist asked what would happen if white farmers left South Africa, Ramaphosa deflected the question to his white agriculture minister - John Steenhuisen, who said that most farmers wanted to stay.
But Trump kept firing salvoes at Ramaphosa, who has so far avoided entering a shouting match with him - something that happened to Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky when he met Trump.
Trump doesn't say whether he will attend G20 in South Africa
Trump was asked if he's going to attend the G20 summit, which is being held in South Africa later this year before the US takes over as chair of the group for next year.
The president says that without the US, the G20 is "not very important".
Ramaphosa says the US originated the G20 and it's important that the US "continues to play a key role".
He says South Africa is "overjoyed" to hand it over to the US, the originators.
"And for that reason I expect US to continue play leadership role in the G20," Ramaphosa says.
