History repeated itself at the White House. U.S. President Donald Trump faced off with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The intense debate between these two leaders echoed the conflict previously seen between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
President Ramaphosa of South Africa arrived in Washington on May 19, intending to breathe new life into African-American relations. However, during the meeting at the White House, Trump surprisingly began critiquing Ramaphosa on the topic of racism.
Source: aajtak
Trump accused Cyril Ramaphosa of turning a blind eye to the alleged massacre of white farmers in South Africa during his tenure. As Ramaphosa began to refute these allegations, Trump showed a video claiming thousands of white farmers have been killed in South Africa.
During the meeting, Trump presented Cyril Ramaphosa with copies of articles claiming a genocide of white farmers in Africa. As he showed the articles to Ramaphosa, Trump emphasized
Death, Death...
, creating a tense atmosphere.
Ramaphosa reminded Trump of Nelson Mandela...
Countering Trump’s allegations, Cyril Ramaphosa asserted that violence had escalated in Africa and affects all races and classes. Both black and white people have suffered, and more blacks have been killed than whites.
Ramaphosa mentioned that he had never seen the video before and promised to verify its authenticity, regardless of who is affected, black or white. His American visit focused on improving bilateral relations between the two nations, which have been stagnant since the post-apartheid era of 1994.
During the discussion, Ramaphosa jokingly criticized Trump's gift from the Qatar government - a Royal Plane, saying that his government strives to eradicate apartheid but regrettably, cannot gift him an aircraft, to which Trump quipped he wished they could.
Earlier, during Trump’s visit to Qatar, the U.S. was gifted a luxury plane worth 34 billion rupees by the Qatari government.
Note that in February, Trump announced a halt to aid to South Africa, citing alleged persecution of whites and policies on land acquisition as causes. Ramaphosa responded by urging Trump not to interfere in South Africa’s internal matters.
Since taking office on January 20, this marks the second occasion where Trump has engaged in a heated exchange with a foreign leader at the White House. The prior confrontation occurred on February 28 with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy over the Ukraine conflict.
