US President Donald Trump said Friday that no American government officials would be attending the Group of 20 summit this year in South Africa, citing the country’s treatment of white farmers.
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Trump had already announced he would not attend the annual summit for heads of state from the globe’s leading and emerging economies.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance had been scheduled to attend in Trump’s place, but a person familiar with Vance’s plans who was granted anonymity to talk about his schedule said Vance would no longer travel there for the summit.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” Trump said on his social media site.
In his post, Trump cited “abuses” of Afrikaners, including violence and death as well as confiscation of their land and farms.
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Trump ambushes South Africa’s Ramaphosa with false ‘white genocide’ claims
Trump ambushes South Africa’s Ramaphosa with false ‘white genocide’ claims
The Trump administration has long accused the South African government of allowing minority white Afrikaner farmers to be persecuted and attacked.