'No longer welcome': US expels South African ambassador for 'hating' Trump

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United States is expelling South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, in a move that underscores growing tensions between Washington and Pretoria.

He also accused the envoy of hating the country and US President Donald Trump.

“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio posted on X.

Ebrahim Rasool is “a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS,” he said. @POTUS here refers to the official X handle of the President of the United States.

“We have nothing to discuss with him, and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”

Tensions between US and South Africa.

The ambassador’s expulsion is the latest sign of growing tensions between the US and South Africa.

In February, Trump froze US aid to South Africa, claiming a law there allows land to be taken from white farmers.

Last week, he escalated the issue by inviting South African farmers to move to the US, saying the government was “confiscating” their land. On Truth Social, he promised them a “rapid pathway to citizenship.”

Musk takes a dig at Ramaphosa

Trump’s close ally and South African-born billionaire Elon Musk has also criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government, calling its land policies “openly racist.”

Land ownership remains a sensitive issue in South Africa, as most farmland is still owned by white people, and the government faces pressure to reform.

At a G20 event last month, Ramaphosa said he had a “wonderful” call with Trump after he took office in January, but later, relations “seemed to go a little bit off the rails.”

In his X post, Rubio shared an article from the conservative news site Breitbart about Rasool’s comments at a foreign policy seminar on Friday.

According to Breitbart, Rasool said white supremacy was behind Trump’s “disrespect” for the global order. He also claimed that Trump’s Make America Great Again movement was a white supremacist reaction to increasing diversity in the US.

Rasool, who was an anti-apartheid activist in his youth, has also criticised Israel’s actions in the Gaza war.