Explained: Donald Trump’s Soured Relations With the South African Government
- United States President Donald Trump has adopted an apparent adversarial stance towards the South African government
- Since being sworn in as the 47th US President, Trump has announced aid cuts to SA and extended refugee status to Afrikaners
- Briefly News takes a look at the history of relations between the SA government and Trump and what could have gone wrong
- Wits University Economist Dr Kenneth Creamer and Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) Operations CEO Martlé Keyter spoke to Briefly News on the unprecedented events
Source: UGC
Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, provided local and international political analysis and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his nine years of experience.
JOHANNESBURG — US President Donald Trump has in the past reacted negatively to policy changes and crime in South Africa and his recent decisions seemingly reflect these past perceptions.
Briefly News examines how Trump has interacted with South Africa over time.
2018: Trump imposes tariffs, threatens said cut
Trump's first tryst with the South African government was in 2018 during his first term as US president. In May of that year, Trump announced that South Africa would not be exempted from steel and aluminium tax exports and he imposed a 25% tariff increase. He also planned to cut aid to South Africa after it voted against the US at the UN.
PAY ATTENTION: Briefly News is now on YouTube! Check out our interviews on Briefly TV Life now!
Reactions to farm murder allegations
Trump, in response to a subsequent Fox News report after lobby group AfriForum gave an interview to American reporters, later tweeted about asking former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to:
"Closely study the South Africa land farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers".
However, BBC and Africa Check fact-checked the claims of large-scale killing and found no reliable evidence to prove that white farmers were killed at a scale larger than any other ethnic group in the country.
2025: Trump announces aid cut
Shortly after he was sworn in as the 47th President, Trump initially announced that the US government would cut its President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding to South Africa, which contributes to 17% of the government's spending on HIV/AIDS treatment and service.
He later rescinded his announcement. However, less than a week after doubling back on his decision, Trump said he would cut all funding for HIV programmes to South Africa.
He accused the government of committing gross human rights violations, persecuting and seizing minority white Afrikaners' land. Then Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November. He reiterated Trump's concerns that South Africa was committing human rights violations.
Trump signs Executive Order
Trump recently signed an Executive Order granting Afrikaners refugee status. He accused South Africa of seizing private property and slammed the Expropriation Act, which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law on Thursday, 23 January 2025. The order also slammed the SA government for opening a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Source: Getty Images
Trump announces 25% steel tariffs that will impact SA's economy
Trump also recently announced a 25% steel tariff on all steel imports. The tariff is expected to impact South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and other countries. South Africa will be hard hit by the tariffs as the country exported R9.5 billion worth of steel and over R7 billion worth of aluminium in 2024.
Steel tariffs bad for SA: Economist
Wits University Economist Dr Kenneth Creamer spoke to Briefly News about the steel tariffs and the impact they would have on the country's economy.
He noted that the tariffs spelt bad news for South Africa, especially for aluminium exporters, who shipped a significant share of their exports to the US.
"Most economists agree that this is a misguided and problematic policy. If it is implemented, the tariffs will push up inflation in the US and will make the US economy less competitive in the long run," said Creamer.
He added that if South Africa lost market share in the US, domestic aluminium producers would have to find alternative markets for their export, or the country would risk production declines and job losses in this sector.
Far-reaching negative consequences: MISA
Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) chief executive officer (CEO) of Operations Martlé Keyter told Briefly News the windfall a potential breakdown in relations between the two countries would cause.
Keyter said the decision to withdraw funding from South Africa had far-reaching consequences for the country's socioeconomic development.
"MISA believes the decision might also result in South Africa being excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Agreement (AGOA). This will be to the detriment of workers and future job creation in our country. South Africa is the biggest beneficiary to this trade agreement, granting duty-free access to the US market to more than 1,800 South African products, including, vehicles," she told Briefly News.
South Africa's Executive Order response
South Africa's political parties and lobby groups such as AfriForum reacted strongly to Trump's Executive Order. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) called on the SA government to revoke the citizenship of anyone willing to accept Trump's offer to resettle Afrikaners as refugees in the US.
However, AfriForum, which has been at the forefront of lobbying for international assistance on land expropriation and farm killings, rejected Trump's offer. Its CEO Kallie Kriel, in a press briefing, explained that, instead, Afrikaners wanted to find ways to improve the country.
Farming Initiative president writes open letter to Trump
In a related article, Briefly News reported that Southern African Agri Initiative president Theo De Jager wrote an open letter to Donald Trump. This was after Trump signed the Executive Order granting Afrikaners US refugee status.
In the letter, De Jager praised Trump's leadership and welcomed his decision to address land expropriation and farm killings. De Jager called on Trump to recognise the struggles of black family farmers who, as with white farmers, were affected by socioeconomic challenges.
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU - click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: Briefly News
