The White House has directed federal agencies to stop work with the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) conference slated to be held later this year in South Africa amid outcry from President Trump over the treatment of white South African farmers.
A White House official pointed to Trump’s comments earlier in the week when he indicated the U.S. could skip the G20, which is scheduled for November in Johannesburg.
“We’re supposed to have a, I guess a G20 meeting there … I don’t know how we can go unless that situation is taken care of,” Trump said. “But it’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about. But it’s a terrible thing that’s taking place. And farmers are being killed. They happen to be white.”
Trump said he expected to speak next week with leaders from South Africa.
The Washington Post first reported on the decision to suspend agency and department work on the summit.
The annual G20 brings together leaders from the world’s largest economies to discuss global issues on the financial system, climate change and other topics.
Trump has fixated on South Africa in recent months over claims that Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority, have been unfairly targeted. The president signed an executive order in February pausing foreign assistance to South Africa over claims that the government there “radically disfavored landowners.”
This week, the Trump administration welcomed a plane carrying 49 Afrikaners granted refugee status. The move raised eyebrows given the administration’s wider pause of the refugee program and crackdown on immigration.
South African officials have rejected the Trump administration’s claims, saying there is no evidence of genocide or persecution of Afrikaners in the country.
