United States President Donald Trump on Friday said that Washington will boycott the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, citing the country’s alleged persecution of white farmers.

“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” he said on social media. “Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”

He added: “No US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!”

The G20 is an international forum of major economies. It comprises 19 countries, the European Union and the African Union. The annual summit of the members’ heads of states will be held in Johannesburg on November 22 and November 23.

Trump had earlier announced that he would not attend the Johannesburg summit, the Associated Press reported. Vice President JD Vance was expected to attend in his place. However, an unidentified official told the news agency that Vance will also not be attending the meeting.

Trump’s announcement came amid diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria.

Claims about persecution of white South Africans

In February, Washington suspended aid to South Africa, citing a South African law that Trump alleges allows land of white farmers to be seized.

On March 7, Trump repeated his allegations that Pretoria was “confiscating” land from white persons and said that South African farmers would be provided a “rapid pathway to citizenship” in the US.

A week later, Washington expelled the South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, accusing him of being a “race-baiting politician who hates America” and the US president. The administration did not explain what had triggered the decision against Rasool.

The South African government has repeatedly insisted that white South Africans do not face persecution.

Land ownership is a contentious matter in South Africa. A significant portion of private farmland is still owned by white families more than three decades after the end of apartheid. Pretoria is under pressure to implement reforms.

The president’s announcement on Friday came days after the US administration on October 30 said that it was limiting the number of refugees it would accept annually to a record low of 7,500, with white South Africans being given priority.

The refugee admissions will primarily be allocated to Afrikaners and “other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands”, according to a White House memo.

Trump, after assuming office for his second term in January, has effectively paused refugee admissions and tightened immigration regulations. In some cases, the US government has used military aircraft to repatriate undocumented migrants, including Indians.

However, the administration made an exception for white South Africans to enter as refugees. The first group of about 50 white South Africans arrived in the US in May.

Congress on PM Modi’s attendance

The Opposition Congress on Saturday claimed that “we can be certain” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg in light of Trump’s announcement.

“Now that President Trump has announced that he will not be attending the G20 Summit in South Africa a few days hence on Nov 22-23, we can be certain that the self-styled Vishwaguru will himself attend in person,” Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said on social media.

Last month, Ramesh alleged that Modi was not participating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur to avoid “being cornered” by Trump.

Modi had virtually participated in the summit, scheduled from October 26 to October 28, alongside the East Asia summit. India is not a member of the ASEAN but has a comprehensive strategic partnership with the grouping. However, India is a member of the East Asia region forum.

Modi had attended the ASEAN summits in person in 2023 and 2024.

Trump’s participation at the ASEAN summit had led to speculation that a bilateral meeting between him and Modi would be on the cards.

This would have been the first meeting between Modi and Trump since diplomatic tensions erupted between New Delhi and Washington, mainly because the US president imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and punitive levies for purchasing Russian oil amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The two countries are negotiating a trade deal.

Trump has also repeatedly claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the four-day conflict in May. New Delhi has rejected the claims and maintained that the ceasefire was not the result of mediation.

Also read: Afrikaner ‘refugees’ are opportunists helping bolster Trump’s ‘white genocide’ claims