Trump confronts South African president with wild claims of White farmers being ‘executed’ in his country

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump left South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stunned as he accused his government of 'executing' White farmers and taking away their lands.

Ramaphosa visited the White House on Wednesday, May 21, in hopes of repairing South Africa’s relationship with the Trump administration after the US president cancelled aid to the country and expelled the South African ambassador.

In recent months, Trump has been fixated on South Africa due to allegations of indiscriminate persecution of the Afrikaners, a White ethnic group.

He suspended foreign funding to South Africa in February after accusations surfaced that the Ramaphosa-led government "radically disfavoured landowners."

Earlier this month, 49 Afrikaners who were granted refugee status were flown into the US by the Trump administration, with the president claiming that they are “losing their land in South Africa and are targets of genocide.”

Trump claims White farmers are being ‘executed’ in South Africa

Ramaphosa’s Oval Office meeting turned out to be not so fruitful as Donald Trump levelled some serious allegations against his government, according to Mediaite.

“There are a lot of bad things happening in many countries, but this in particular has been very, very bad. Very bad,” Trump said during the meeting, adding, “And because of, you know, we’re going to have the whole world watching in another short period of time because you have the G20, and that’s a big deal. And it seems like, I mean, I want you to look good.”

The 78-year-old also claimed that thousands of South African people are “trying to come into our country because they feel they’re gonna be killed.”

“Their land is going to be confiscated. And you do have laws that were passed that give you the right to confiscate land for no payment. You can take away land for no payment,” he alleged.

Ramaphosa then went on to clarify things, claiming “we have a constitution, our constitution guarantees and protects the sanctity of tenure of land ownership, and that constitution protects all South Africans with regards to land ownership.”

“However, we do say because we’ve got to deal with the past, the government, and as your government also has the right to expropriate land for public use,” the South African president added.

“And you’re doing that,” Trump hit back, to which Ramaphosa replied, “We’ve never really gotten underway with that. And we are going to be doing.”

“You are taking people’s land away from them,” Trump interrupted. “We have not,” Ramaphosa replied meekly.

“And those people, in many cases, are being executed,” Trump insisted as Ramaphosa quietly shook his head and said, “No.”

“They’re being executed, and they happen to be White, and most of them happen to be farmers. And that’s a tough situation. I don’t know how you explain that. How do you explain it?” Trump continued.

Trump plays 'White genocide' video montage in Oval Office meeting

During his meeting with Ramaphosa, Donald Trump played an inflammatory five-minute video detailing purported evidence of crimes against White Farmers in South Africa.

The video featured a roadside memorial supposedly for hundreds of killed White farmers, as well as left-wing populist politician Julius Malema asking for the murder of members of South Africa's 4.5 million-strong White community, which makes up roughly 7.3% of the country's total population.

“Revolution demands at some point there must be killing,” Malema said in one clip, with several others showing the Economic Freedom Fighters leader dancing in packed stadiums, according to the NY Post.

In yet another clip, Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president from 2009 to 2018, was seen singing the anti-apartheid song "kill the Boer," which has allegedly stoked tensions and farm invasions.

Despite the content of the video, Ramaphosa, 72, remained composed and respectful throughout the more than hour-long press conference.

Ramaphosa averted a confrontation with Trump by expressing gratitude to the president for supplying respirators to South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and showing deference to notable White South Africans who accompanied him on the trip, such as major golf champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.