President Donald Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday, where tensions emerged over the attack on White farmers in South Africa. After dimming the lights, Trump played video clips of what's happening in South Africa.
🚨 JUST SHOWN IN THE OVAL OFFICE: Proof of Persecution in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/rER1l8sqAU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 21, 2025
Ramaphosa watched silently before responding, “I’d like to know where that is, because this I’ve never seen.” Trump insisted it was from South Africa.
“In many ways, one should say, you are a partner of South Africa. You are raising concerns. And these are concerns we are willing to talk to you about,” Ramaphosa said, pivoting to broader issues of crime and cooperation. “The criminality we are experiencing in our country needs quite a lot of technological capability… That is we need help with.”
Quoting Nelson Mandela, he added: “Whenever there are problems, people need to sit around a table and talk about them.”
