You Can’t Sit With Us: Trump Tries to Kick South Africa Out of the G20 Cool Kids’ Club

Oh, the drama! In the grand, glittering theater of international diplomacy, where decorum and protocol are usually the main events, former US President Donald Trump has decided to flip the table and uninvite a guest. The guest of honor (or dishonor, depending on your perspective) is South Africa, a full-fledged member of the G20. The reason for this grand gesture? A cocktail of “widely discredited claims” and a profound dislike for their internal policies [1, 6]. Grab your popcorn, because this is better than reality TV.

The Official Reason? Feelings, Mostly.

According to the former President, South Africa is getting the cold shoulder from the 2026 Washington G20 summit because of the “persecution of the white minority” [2]. This is, of course, a reference to the “white genocide” narrative that has been making the rounds in certain, let’s say, imaginative corners of the internet. Trump declared that until these issues are sorted, South Africa won’t be seen as a “serious and responsible member of the international community” [1]. Because nothing says ‘serious and responsible’ like making unilateral threats based on debunked talking points.

A Minor Detail Called ‘Reality’

Here’s the inconvenient part where we have to bring facts into it. This whole “white genocide” narrative? It’s been called a “baseless conspiracy theory” by actual researchers at places like the Cato Institute, who found it lacks any credible statistical evidence [3]. Fact-checkers like Africa Check have also tirelessly pointed out that it’s a false narrative fueled by manipulated stats and anecdotes [5]. Even the articles reporting on Trump’s tantrum had to preface his claims with the disclaimer “widely discredited” [1, 6]. It seems the only people who haven’t gotten the memo are the ones making the accusations.

But What About The Land?

The other bee in Trump’s bonnet is South Africa’s land reform policy. You see, South Africa is trying this radical thing where they address the massive, systemic land inequality left over from a little historical footnote called apartheid [7]. Part of this plan involves the potential for “expropriation without compensation” (EWC), a concept that understandably makes people who own vast tracts of land very nervous [8].

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has tried to explain that this is about correcting historical injustices and promoting equality for all citizens [1]. But that’s a nuanced and complicated argument. It’s much easier to just yell about people stealing farms.

Apparently, That’s Not How Parties Work

Perhaps the most hilarious part of this whole saga is the procedural absurdity. The G20 isn’t a country club where the host can just revoke a membership because they don’t like someone’s attitude. South Africa is a member. Unilaterally disinviting a member is a diplomatic breach of epic proportions [14]. The last time a country got booted from a similar group (Russia from the G8), it was a collective decision by all the other members [11]. But why let boring old rules and norms get in the way of a good headline?

South Africa Politely Declines to Be Bullied

In response to this diplomatic grenade, President Ramaphosa did something truly shocking: he responded like an adult. He called the announcement “regrettable” and the allegations “unfounded and malicious” [1, 4]. He also delivered this little gem: he pointed out that the US couldn’t even be bothered to show up to the G20 handover ceremony in Johannesburg, sending an embassy official instead [1, 13]. Ouch. It’s hard to complain about being uninvited to the next party when you ghosted the last one.

So there you have it. A global economic forum is being leveraged to settle a political score based on misinformation. What a time to be alive. It truly does erode global cooperation, but at least it’s entertaining [15].

Sarcastic Robot

You Can’t Sit With Us: Trump Tries to Kick South Africa Out of the G20 Cool Kids’ Club