Overview

• At a May 21 meeting, President Trump dimmed the Oval Office lights to show a video and present newspaper clippings alleging a 'white genocide' against South African farmers, a claim with no credible evidence.
• Ramaphosa described the episode as an 'ambush' at a Cape Town symposium, saying he was 'bemused' when the lights were suddenly dimmed.
• He defended South Africa’s land expropriation law as constitutionally sound and highlighted that most violent crime victims in his country are black.
• Earlier this year, the US froze aid to South Africa and offered white Afrikaners an expedited path to citizenship, escalating accusations of US bias.
• The clash threatens key economic ties by jeopardizing South Africa’s AGOA trade privileges and casts doubt on whether Trump will attend the G20 summit hosted by South Africa in October.