US President Donald Trump on Monday launched the US presidency of the Group of 20 by wiping clean the website of outgoing host South Africa, which he is not inviting to next year’s summit.
The G20 website now simply has a picture of Trump in black and white that says “Miami 2026” and “The Best Is Yet to Come”, the title of the song popularised by Frank Sinatra.
Trump refused all US attendance at last month’s G20 summit in Johannesburg, denouncing the post-apartheid government’s treatment of the white minority.
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Trump has also said South Africa will not be welcome at the summit to take place at his Doral golf club in Florida. This will be the first time a member has been excluded in the two-decade history of the bloc.
The Trump administration also rejected the agenda of the South African presidency of the G20, which had included a “just energy transition” and debt sustainability.
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The State Department said Trump will “return the G20 to focusing on its core mission of driving economic growth and prosperity to produce results”.