Washington, D.C. — A high-stakes Oval Office meeting between former President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa turned contentious Tuesday, as Trump confronted Ramaphosa over alleged violence against white farmers in South Africa. South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk was also at the meeting, underscoring deepening U.S.-South Africa tensions.

During the discussion, Trump played a graphic video purportedly showing burial sites of white South African farmers, stating, “We have dead White people, dead White farmers, mostly,” according to CBS News. He cited this as part of a broader concern over land seizures and racial violence allegedly tied to South Africa’s controversial land reform efforts.

President Ramaphosa firmly resisted, stating that the video “does not reflect government policy” and emphasizing that the South African administration is “completely opposed” to such rhetoric. He reiterated the need to rely on facts and include the perspectives of a broad range of South Africans—some of whom were present in the room, including renowned golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and billionaire businessman Johann Rupert.

The backdrop to the meeting includes a recent U.S. policy shift under Trump’s influence, in which 59 white Afrikaners were granted refugee status in the U.S.—a move South Africa condemned as misinformed and politically motivated. South African officials argue that this group does not meet the international standard for refugee persecution.

South Africa’s new land reform legislation, signed into law by Ramaphosa, which permits land expropriation without compensation under certain circumstances, is at the heart of the controversy. While the South African government views this as a constitutional and necessary step to correct historical injustices stemming from apartheid-era land dispossession, critics like Musk have called it “openly racist ownership laws.”

Despite the contentious exchange, Trump and Ramaphosa expressed interest in continued dialogue. However, their diverging views on race, reform, and human rights signal enduring challenges in U.S.–South African relations.

Source:
CBS News. (2025, May 21). Trump confronts South Africa’s president over white farmers during Oval Office meeting. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-musk-south-africa-president-meeting-tense-relations/underscoring