South Africa is pushing back against US President Donald Trump’s decision to bar them from the 2026 G20 summit in Miami.
President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed disappointment over Trump’s statement, emphasizing that South Africa values its G20 membership, earned through consensus and collaboration. The tensions stem from the US boycotting the recent G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg, with Trump citing false claims of persecution against white Afrikaners. South Africa rejected these claims as baseless.
The summit still produced a declaration affirming multilateralism, despite US objections.Trump’s response was to announce that South Africa won’t receive an invitation to the 2026 G20 summit and that he will “stop all payments and subsidies” to the country.
South Africa calls this a punitive measure, saying they have already handed over G20 instruments to a US Embassy official.This diplomatic spat highlights strained US-South Africa relations, with Trump previously criticizing South Africa’s land policy and genocide case against Israel.
South Africa maintains it will continue participating in the G20, respecting sovereignty and promoting multilateralism.
