US President Donald Trump, in a tense Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, accused the that country of orchestrating a genocide against white farmers, presenting a barrage of misleading video clips and discredited conspiracy theories in a dramatic and confrontational exchange.
What began as a diplomatic meeting quickly spiralled into a contentious display of Trump’s embrace of far-right narratives. Many recalled Trump’s meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and his warm engagements with authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, where he avoided criticising human rights abuses.
At one point, Trump dimmed the lights and ordered aides to play a video mash-up that purported to show evidence of “racial persecution” against white South Africans.
The footage included years-old clips of inflammatory political speeches and scenes of white crosses lining a rural highway, which Trump claimed were graves of murdered white farmers.
In reality, the video showed a 2020 protest near Newcastle, South Africa, following the murder of a local white farming couple, reported Reuters as well as The New York Times. The white crosses were symbolic, not actual grave markers, organisers had told South African broadcaster SABC at the time.
Throughout the meeting, Trump repeatedly interrupted Ramaphosa, accusing South Africa’s black-led government of complicity in what he called “land seizures” and “ethnic cleansing.”
When asked by a journalist what it would take for him to believe there is no genocide occurring, Ramaphosa responded, “It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans,” reported The New York Times.
But Trump appeared unmoved. “Turn the lights down and just put this on,” he said, introducing the controversial video.
The confrontation highlighted Trump’s continued support for a debunked conspiracy theory that claims white Afrikaner farmers are being systematically murdered in South Africa — a theory amplified by fringe groups and promoted by billionaire Elon Musk, who was present at the meeting.
Standing near Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Musk reportedly nodded as the president referenced him: “Elon is from South Africa. This is what Elon wanted.”
According to South African police, 44 murders were linked to farming communities in 2024, only eight of which involved farmers.
In contrast, the country recorded more than 26,000 murders nationwide last year, most of the victims being black.
A Western Cape high court earlier this year dismissed the “white genocide” theory as “clearly imagined and not real.”
Trump also criticised South Africa’s land reform efforts, inaccurately claiming that the government is violently expropriating land from white farmers.
In fact, while President Ramaphosa signed a law in January permitting expropriation without compensation “in the public interest,” the legislation has not yet been enforced.
Ramaphosa pushed back during the meeting, insisting, “Our government policy is completely against what [Trump] was saying.” He acknowledged South Africa’s crime challenges but stressed they affect all communities.
“We have a multiparty democracy in South Africa that allows people to express themselves,” he said, invoking Nelson Mandela’s legacy of dialogue and reconciliation.
Trump also referenced the controversial struggle song Kill the Boer, terming it a call to violence. Multiple South African courts have ruled the chant is a historical liberation song and not hate speech.
Despite Ramaphosa’s attempts to lighten the atmosphere, including gifting Trump a book on golf, the meeting remained overshadowed by Trump’s fixation on Afrikaner grievances.
He even tried to joke with the President, who had become irate when a reporter asked him about a free plane from the Qatari government.
“I am sorry I don’t have a plane to give you,” Ramaphosa said to Trump.
“I wish you did,” Trump replied. “I’d take it. If your country offered the US Air Force a plane, I would take it.”
As Ramaphosa spoke about strengthening US-South Africa trade relations, Trump appeared disengaged, flipping through photos of alleged white victims of violence. “I want you to look good,” Trump said, returning to his claims. “I don’t want you to look bad.”