Trump meets Ramaphosa, presses him on unfounded 'white genocide' claims in tense White House meeting

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at Whit House and said he was seeking an explanation from the South African President regarding unfounded allegations of “genocide” targeting white Afrikaners.

“Generally, they’re white farmers, and they’re fleeing South Africa, and it’s a very sad thing to see. But I hope we can have an explanation of that, because I know you don’t want that,” Trump said.

Ramaphosa, however, disputed President Trump’s claim during their meeting in the Oval Office.

“If there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my minister of agriculture, he would not be with me," CNN quoted Ramaphosa as saying, referring to White members of his delegation, which included South African golfers, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els, and his country’s agriculture minister, John Henry Steenhuisen.

Ramaphosa urged Trump to “(listen) to their stories, to their perspective.”

Immediately afterward, Ramaphosa sat in uneasy silence as Trump directed his aides to play a short documentary composed of various video clips, including footage of South African politician Julius Malema.

Trump then remarked that the videos showed aerial footage of white crosses marking the graves of murdered white farmers.

Ramaphosa responded by saying he had never seen such images before.

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“I’d like to know where that is because this I’ve never seen,” The Guardian quoted him as saying.

Trump admitted he wasn’t sure what he expected Ramaphosa to do about the footage they had just watched.

He then held up printed news articles about white farmers he claimed were recently killed, saying as he flipped through them: “Death, death.”

Ramaphosa clarified that what they had just seen did not reflect official government policy.

“Our government policy is completely against what (Trump was describing),” The Guardian quoted Trump as saying.

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“There is criminality in our country … people who do get killed are not only white,” he added.

Ramaphosa then tried to get the Oval Office meeting back on track, saying, “I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you.”

He said he is willing to talk to Trump about these issues that concern him.

“You’re a partner of South Africa, and you’re raising concerns – these are concerns we are willing to talk about,” he added.

In recent months, Trump and several members of his administration, including South Africa-born adviser Elon Musk, has criticised South Africa’s land reform law, which seeks to address the injustices of apartheid, as well as its court case against Israel regarding genocide.

Trump has taken several actions, including canceling aid, expelling South Africa’s ambassador, and offering refuge to white Afrikaners, based on racial discrimination claims that Pretoria insists are unfounded.

Trump has accused South Africa of seizing land from white farmers and stoking violence against white landowners through “hateful rhetoric and government actions”, a claim he reiterated in today’s Oval Office meeting.

In response, Pretoria has argued that these claims are inaccurate and fail to acknowledge South Africa’s painful history, which includes the long period of white colonial domination under the apartheid system.

Today’s meeting carries significant weight for South Africa, as the United States is its second-largest trading partner after China. The aid cut has already led to a decline in HIV patient testing.

With inputs from agencies