US President Donald Trump turned down the lights in the Oval Office on Wednesday and made South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the target of his latest geopolitical ambush of a foreign leader in front of television cameras.
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In an extraordinary scene clearly orchestrated by the White House for maximum effect and reminiscent of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit in February, Trump confronted Ramaphosa with false claims of genocide against South African whites, including allegations of mass killings and land seizures.
It was another display of Trump’s apparent readiness to use the Oval Office, historically reserved as a place of honour for foreign dignitaries, to embarrass visitors from less-powerful nations or hold their feet to the fire on matters he was fixated upon.
Trump’s unprecedented use of the presidential setting for such displays could prompt foreign leaders to think twice about accepting his invitations and risk public humiliation, a reluctance that could make it harder to cement ties with friends and partners that are also being courted by arch-rival China.
Patrick Gaspard, a former US ambassador to South Africa under President Barack Obama, said Trump had turned the meeting with Ramaphosa into a “shameful spectacle” and “savaged him with some fake snuff film and violent rhetoric”.
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