President Donald Trump And President Cyril Ramaphosa

In a heated Oval Office meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a controversial video promoting a far-right conspiracy theory about so-called “white genocide” in South Africa. The video, which has circulated in extremist media circles, falsely claims that white farmers in South Africa are being systematically targeted and killed in what amounts to racial persecution.

Trump used the video to attack South Africa’s land reform policies, accusing the Ramaphosa administration of enacting measures that discriminate against the white minority. He specifically criticized efforts to redistribute land—aimed at correcting centuries of colonial and apartheid-era dispossession—as a threat to white property owners. He also condemned the country’s affirmative action laws, portraying them as unjust and racially biased.

Observers have condemned Trump’s remarks as reckless and inflammatory. Human rights organizations and independent researchers have repeatedly debunked the “white genocide” myth, noting that while violent crime affects all South Africans, there is no evidence of a racially targeted campaign against white farmers. In fact, the majority of South Africa’s murder victims are Black, and the country’s violent crime crisis is deeply rooted in poverty, inequality, and historical injustice.

Ramaphosa, caught off guard by Trump’s aggressive posture, reportedly defended his government’s efforts to address land inequality—a legacy of colonialism and apartheid that left millions of Black South Africans dispossessed. South Africa’s land reform aims to restore dignity and economic opportunity to those historically denied access to land, not to incite division.

Trump’s decision to elevate a debunked and racially charged narrative in a formal diplomatic setting reflects his alignment with white nationalist ideologies, both during and after his presidency. Critics say this confrontation not only undermines U.S.-Africa relations but also inflames racial tensions and spreads dangerous misinformation under the guise of concern.

By bringing far-right propaganda into high-level diplomacy, Trump once again used his platform to legitimize conspiracy theories while ignoring the lived realities of systemic injustice and inequality faced by the majority of South Africans.