Trump confronts South Africa's president with claims of 'white genocide'
What's the story
In a tense White House meeting on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with explosive false charges of white genocide and land seizures.
What began as a pleasant conversation, featuring lighter comments about golf, took a different turn when Ramaphosa told Trump that there is no genocide against Afrikaners.
Shutting Ramaphosa down, Trump said, "We have thousands of stories talking about it," and then ordered his staff, "Turn the lights down and..put this (video) on."
Meeting
Trump shows video of 'mass graves of white farmers'
The televised interview shows Ramaphosa forcing a smile as Elon Musk, JD Vance, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and diplomats and journalists from both countries watched.
The video played by Trump featured former South African President Jacob Zuma and fiery opposition politician Julius Malema performing an apartheid-era fight song called Kill the Boer, which means farmer or Afrikaner.
Another footage showed what Trump called were the graves of over a thousand white farmers, marked with white crosses.
Prosecution
People are fleeing South Africa: Trump
Trump then produced a series of articles he said were from the last few days and reported on atrocities in South Africa.
He read some of the headlines and said, "Death, death, horrible death."
"We have many people that feel they're being persecuted, and they're coming to the United States. People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated, and in many cases, they're being killed," the president added.
Twitter Post
Watch the video here
The full clip is amazing. The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, denies white genocide in SA.
— Grummz (@Grummz) May 21, 2025
Trump then rolls in a tv and makes him watch the receipts.pic.twitter.com/IjMRNDAxpz
Meeting
Ramaphosa hoped to use meeting to improve US-South Africa relations
Ramaphosa refuted Trump's claims of genocide by pointing out the presence of white golfers in the room.
He said if there was an Afrikaner farmer genocide, they wouldn't be there.
He also pointed out that South Africa has a high murder rate, but most victims are Black.
Ramaphosa had hoped to use the meeting to improve US-South Africa relations after Trump canceled aid and criticized South Africa's court case against Israel.
Video
Video from 2020
According to Reuters, the video that Trump showed was filmed in September 2020 during a protest after two people were killed on their farm.
An organizer of the rally told South Africa's state TV that they represented farmers who had been killed over the years.
After the meeting, Ramaphosa said both countries agreed to discuss critical minerals in South Africa and proposed buying liquefied natural gas from the US.
However, he flatly denied allegations of racial violence against white farmers.