The White House is staying firm on President Trump’s use of video footage shown to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The video in question depicted rows of white crosses.
Fact-checkers, including the BBC, confirmed the 2020 footage was from a protest memorial near Newcastle, South Africa and not an actual burial site as Trump claimed it was.
.@PressSec nukes Fake News @Yamiche for LYING about the burial ground of white farmers killed in South Africa pic.twitter.com/BhCTGumnoz
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 22, 2025
NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor challenged the narrative, prompting Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to clarify: “The video showed images of crosses in South Africa about white farmers that have been killed and persecuted because of the color of their skin. Those crosses are representing their lives.” She added, “It showed white crosses representing people who have perished because of political persecution.”
The White House also shared AP-captioned photos from the White Cross Monument in Polokwane, reinforcing the crosses’ symbolic meaning.
