President Donald Trump took an unexpected diplomatic step by announcing that no United States officials would attend this year’s G20 Johannesburg Summit in South Africa due to human-rights abuses against white farmers and land seizures in their host nation. Africanews +3
Reuters +3 Politico.
According to President Donald Trump, his decision was driven by his belief that white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa are being killed and slaughtered, with their land illegally confiscated by local authorities. On his social-media platform he wrote “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will take place in South Africa… No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses persist”. Al Jazeera’s coverage provided further insight.
The supposed summit is scheduled to be held 22-23 November 2025 in Johannesburg under the presidency of its host state, according to Wikipedia and Africanews.
What the United States Claims

President Donald Trump and his administration point to several factors that contribute to their victory:

South African government land expropriation laws that permit state seizure of land in certain instances have been widely seen as evidence of unfair targeting against white farmers, according to Al Jazeera +1.
Trump asserts that white Afrikaners are being attacked, yet government protection cannot or will not come quickly enough to their aid. According to AP News, it appears Trump may have some credibility on this claim.
US officials have recently voiced their displeasure with South Africa’s foreign-policy posture and internal reforms, particularly their objection to what they consider pro-diversity and climate-driven agendas at G20 meetings. With regards to South Africa’s response and context of such criticisms from US officials. ThePrint.

South Africa has categorically rejected allegations of genocide or systematic persecution against white farmers by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his administration, who found these accusations “completely false” given that white South Africans continue to enjoy higher living standards on average than many Black citizens years after apartheid ended.
Noting the significance of South Africa hosting its inaugural G20 summit on the African continent and thereby becoming a significant international player, is worth noting. Wikipedia+3 Implications and likely fallout should also be anticipated at this summit.

The United States’s decision to skip out on attending the G20 summit raises serious doubts about its usefulness as a platform for global cooperation in this era of increased geopolitical polarization.

Diplomatically, this move marks a further deterioration in relations between the US and South Africa; trade and aid may come under strain as a result of previous US actions.

South Africa could find that without US participation, its G20 presidency and ability to promote African priorities on a global scale may lose much of their weight and value.

The US narrative that white farmers are being persecuted and land is being unjustly taken remains highly contentious and has not been independently verified at scale, while analysts caution against an attempt at “white genocide”. *Afriquenews * Plus one.
President Trump’s announcement of a boycott against South Africa for the 2025 G20 Summit cast his decision as a moral act, taken against alleged human-rights abuses committed against white Afrikaner farmers – while South Africa vigorously refutes such allegations. While President Trump framed his announcement in terms of moral action against alleged abuses of rights for this group of white Afrikaner farmers – at the same time it had significant ramifications for relations between both countries, legitimacy of G20 forum, land reform issues in post-apartheid South Africa; whether this boycott will prompt dialogue or further divide existing factions remains uncertain.