Trump Makes Discredited Genocide Claims
BBC News
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Trump Makes Discredited Genocide Claims
BBC News
Donald Trump confronts South Africa's leader in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting over discredited claims of a white genocide in South Africa
Trump says white farmers are "fleeing South Africa" and plays footage showing people chanting "kill the Boer, kill the farmer"
This is the first time we've seen this sort of ambush in the Oval Office, reports Bernd Debusmann Jr
Responding to the footage, Ramaphosa condemns the chants but pushes back against claims of white persecution
There were parallels with the infamous Zelensky meeting in the Oval Office, writes Anthony Zurcher, but Ramaphosa kept his composure
A group of 59 white South Africans recently arrived in the US, where they will be given refugee status
This video can not be played
Watch moment Trump confronts South Africa's president with video
Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Jacqueline Howard in Washington DC, with Bernd Debusmann Jr at the White House and Khanyisile Ngcobo in Johannesburg
Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent
This was a really extraordinary meeting where President Trump seemed more interested and friendly towards to two professional golfers from South Africa than to the actual president of the country.
We know Trump is fond of golfers – he's made golf buddy and real estate mogul Steve Witkoff his envoy for solving world conflicts.
South African golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen tried to quell the tension – and it worked to a certain extent. But like the President Zelensky ambush, it was jarring to see Ramaphosa, a foreign leader, trying to give facts about his own country to a president who was instead pushing debunked theories.
Unlike the President Zelensky meeting though, no-one in Trump's cabinet actually got involved in the fight this time. 
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
The meeting between Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa followed a now-familiar script – with the guest praising the US president and promising new and fruitful economic cooperation.
It went sideways from there.
After playing what was presented as a video documentary of hate speech and genocide directed against white South African farmers, Trump accused Ramaphosa’s government of confiscating land and turning a blind eye to the murder.
It was a remarkable scene – one that immediately drew parallels to the acrimonious meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
Unlike Zelensky, however, Ramaphosa did not lose his composure. He said he would address the American concerns. He denounced the "kill the Boer" chants of what he said were minority out-of-government parties. He referenced Nelson Mandela. And he brought in Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen – who is white – to discuss how crime is a public safety problem that threatens both white and black South Africans.
Ramaphosa may not leave Washington with the trade deals that he had hoped for, but he also survived what could have been a much more serious blow to US-South Africa relations.
Farouk Chothia
BBC South Africa analyst
As Trump ambushed him, Ramaphosa stayed calm – and tried to work his charm.
He invoked the name of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, saying South Africa remained committed to racial reconciliation. He blamed the killing of white farmers on criminality, and suggested that US technology could help combat it.
When a journalist asked what would happen if white farmers left South Africa, Ramaphosa deflected the question to his white agriculture minister – John Steenhuisen, who said that most farmers wanted to stay.
But Trump kept firing salvoes at Ramaphosa, who has so far avoided entering a shouting match with him – something that happened to Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky when he met Trump.
Trump was asked if he's going to attend the G20 summit, which is being held in South Africa later this year before the US takes over as chair of the group for next year.
The president says that without the US, the G20 is "not very important".
Ramaphosa says the US originated the G20 and it's important that the US "continues to play a key role".
He says South Africa is "overjoyed" to hand it over to the US, the originators.
"And for that reason I expect US to continue play leadership role in the G20," Ramaphosa says. 
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
This is nearly a worst-case scenario for a visitor to the White House. The last thing a foreign leader wants while in the Oval Office is a public disagreement – which is exactly what happened here today.
Trump's carefully laid ambush put Ramaphosa and the South African delegation in the awkward place of having to dispute what Trump is saying, while at the same time doing so diplomatically.
This is an extremely difficult balancing act, and the South African delegation will have been keenly aware of what happened in February when Zelensky was here.
On that occasion, his efforts to push back made things worst, and he was attacked for "litigating" problems in front of journalists.
For the South Africans, today's saving grace is likely that Ramaphosa and Trump did not begin arguing more loudly with the world's cameras rolling.
Reporters are now being told to leave the Oval Office – and one imagines that will be a relief for the South Africans.
Just a few minutes ago, South African golfer Retief Goosen, who is part of Ramaphosa's delegation, made brief comments.
He said it is a concern to make a living as a farmer in South Africa, including for his family members who live behind electric fences and have previously been attacked in their houses.
He ended by saying: but they do live a nice life.
Ramaphosa wants to keep hearing from his delegation and he invites Zingiswa Losi, president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
She says thousands of jobs will be wiped out if US companies leave South Africa, calling on continued US investment.
On the issue of white farmers, she said violence is South Africa affected all races, not just white people, a refrain we have heard from others.
She brought up black women, including elderly women, who have been raped in South Africa.
The highly anticipated joint appearance between Trump and Ramaphosa has concluded.
Stick with us for more coverage and analysis of the historic meeting.
South African billionaire businessman Johann Rupert is now speaking and tells Trump that South Africa has "too many deaths" that are across racial groups.
"It's not only white farmers," he says.
Rupert then reiterates Ramaphosa's earlier plea to Trump and says: "We need your help."
He then turns to Musk and says "we need Starlink at every police station".
Ramaphosa then jumps in and turns the conversation towards economics, adding "criminality thrives when people are unemployed".
"Our main, main, real reason for being here is to foster trade and investment, so that we are able to grow our economy, with your support," he says.
Trump, wanting to hear from golfers, turns to Retief Goosen and asks what he thinks.
President Trump offers the South African golfers who came as part of the South African delegation the chance to speak.
Ernie Els says he's a proud South African, but he wants to see things get better in his home country.
He talks about growing up during apartheid, telling the Oval Office that "two wrongs don't make a right", referring to crimes against white South Africans today.
"We wanted to come here to meet you and see the way forward see our nation flourish," Els tells Trump.
Trump says Ernie is a better speaker than a golfer, which gets a laugh in the room.
Ramaphosa calls on South Africa's Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen to discuss Trump's conerns about the situation of white farmers.
Steenhuisen, who is white and is also the leader of the Democratic Alliance party, a member of the government coalition, says the majority of farmers want to stay in South Africa rather than leave, as the group who have come the US have.
He says the country has priorities on protecting white farmers, including stopping the crime of livestock theft.
He reminds the US president that the people shown in the video just played in the Oval Office, such as Julius Malema, are not government officials.
We need support from allies so we can strengthen our economy and shut the door on people like Malema, he says.
Elon Musk, a South Africa native and Trump confidant, is among those in the Oval Office. He's been quietly listening, mostly unnoticed, until Trump points directly to him.
"This is what Elon wanted," Trump says.
"He actually came here on a different subject, sending rockets to Mars," Trump says, adding "he likes that better."
Trump then says he doesn't want to include Musk in the debate about discrimination against white South Africans and says "I don't think it's fair to (Musk)", with a laugh.
Ramaphosa steers the conversation to trade, mentioning a technology partnership between the US and South Africa.
He says he wants to sit down and have a good conversation away from the media, which can lead to good outcomes.
The press asks another question on the "very bad things" happening in South Africa, and the conversation is brought back to the contentious issues of white farmers who Trump says "feel they're going to be killed".
Ramaphosa has stepped in to clarify his position on Trump's accusations. He says South Africa has a democracy that allows people to express themselves.
There is criminality in our country, he says, and the people who get killed in South Africa are not only white people, but includes black people too.
He also says Malema's speech and actions are not government policy.
As a reminder, Malema is the leader of the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party. His party is not part of the governing coalition.
Ramaphosa condemns the speech used in the video shown in the Oval Office.
The exchange is interspersed with chatter about Qatar's plane gift to Trump, after a reporter from NBC asked a question about it.
Trump appears to have been rattled by that question, calling the reporter "a jerk".
Trump is asked what he wants Ramaphosa to do about the images displayed on screen that appeared to show white South Africans mourning their loved ones by visiting a burial site.
Trump holds up a stack of papers with photos of white South Africans' faces that Trump says were murdered.
"We're going to talk about it," Trump says.
The room is erupting into chaos as reporters shout questions towards Trump and Ramaphosa.Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
We've now had multiple foreign leaders come to the White House since Trump returned to office on 20 – but this is the first time we've seen this sort of ambush on a foreign leader.
This video appears to been carefully prepared ahead of time, with Trump ready to pivot to video screens – which are not usually in the Oval Office – as soon as the issue of the "genocide" of white farmers was brought up again.
At one point, Trump even spoke over the video, narrating to those in the room about what they were saying.
The atmosphere of the room seems to have shifted, with Trump now angry – going through a stack of articles about violence in South Africa.
The South Africans appear to be at a loss of how to respond.
This ambush stands in contrast to the February clash with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, which was unexpected.
Trump came prepared for this, with the materials he believes will back up his argument.
Trump shows the Oval Office another video, claiming to be of a burial site of white farmers.
While the video runs, Trump says: "It's a terrible sight, never seen anything like it".
Ramaphosa asks Trump: "Have they told you where that is Mr President?" Trump says no.
Ramaphosa says he'd like to know where it is, as he's never seen it before.
"It's in South Africa," Trump responds.
Shortly after, there's a confrontation between Trump and the press, who have asked Trump about a plane gifted to him by Qatar.
Trump hits out at the reporter for asking that question, while Ramaphosa says he'd like to respond to the videos just shown.
This video can not be played
Watch moment Trump confronts South Africa's president with video
The presidents are asked what will it take for President Trump to believe that there is no white genocide in South Africa.
Ramaphosa said it will take Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, including Trump's good friends who are in the room with him.
If there was a genocide, those friends would not be part of the delegation, Ramaphosa says.
Trump steers the room to a television set up in the room where he is showing a documentary featuring South African opposition politician Julius Malema singing a song about which includes the line "shoot the Boer", which refers to white farmers in the country.
Trump has repeated widely discredited claims about a genocide against white South Africans.
We will bring you more on that song.
Reporters next ask Trump what he expects to come out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
"I don't expect anything," Trump says.
"There's a lot of anger there, tremendous anger," he continues.
"We'll have a ruling, who knows what the ruling is going to mean."
President Trump is now talking about the Ukraine-Russia war, referring to the "bloodbath" of Ukraine.
"That's a bad situation," Trump says, recalling that he recently heard about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to South Africa.
"We would like to see the end of that war," Ramaphosa says, telling Trump he supports the work he is doing in trying to end the war.
Ramaphosa says South Africans have learned about "peace" from Nelson Mandela, and want to impart some of those lessons to other conflicts around the world.
Billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, who often attends meetings at the White House, including with foreign leaders, has joined this meeting in the Oval Office.
Musk is himself from South Africa and has promoted discredited claims about a "genocide" against White South Africans.
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