Trump Blocks South Africa From 2026 G20 Summit Over Alleged Human Rights Abuses

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that South Africa will be excluded from the 2026 G20 summit, which is scheduled to take place in Miami, Florida, citing what he described as “horrific human rights abuses” and the country’s treatment of White farmers.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them. At my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G-20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year.”

The decision, if enforced, would break precedent and mark the first time a member of the G20 has been barred from the summit since its inception in 1999. South Africa is the only African nation in the group and has been a member since the G20’s elevation to a leaders’ summit in 2008.

South African officials quickly dismissed Trump’s announcement. Clayson Monyela, the country’s head of diplomacy, said G20 members do not receive invitations because they are permanent participants. “South Africa is a founding member of the G-20. We don’t get invited to G-20 meetings and leaders summit. Those are gatherings of members,” Monyela said. “If other members allow this then the G-20 will die.”

He further claimed that other countries had expressed willingness to boycott the 2026 summit if South Africa is excluded.

The Trump administration’s rift with South Africa has been widening throughout the year. In February, Trump suspended U.S. aid to South Africa, and in March, the State Department expelled South Africa’s ambassador to Washington. Tensions spiked again in May when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly clashed with Trump during a contentious Oval Office meeting. The two leaders reportedly disagreed over claims of violence targeting Afrikaner farmers, with Trump asserting that White South Africans were being “systematically targeted,” a claim Ramaphosa denied.

Wednesday’s move follows the U.S. boycott of the 2025 G20 meeting in Johannesburg. The White House said at the time that it objected to the summit’s emphasis on climate change and sustainable development over core economic priorities. The administration also cited violence and land expropriation policies in rural regions as a reason for the diplomatic freeze.

Trump added in his social media statement that the U.S. would stop all financial support to South Africa. “South Africa has demonstrated to the world they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately,” he said.

Neither the White House nor the State Department provided immediate comment. It remains unclear whether other G20 member states will support Trump’s decision or if they will push back, potentially leading to a diplomatic crisis within the group.

The G20 currently includes 19 countries and the European Union, representing around 80% of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population. Trump’s move signals a hardening of U.S. posture toward regimes he considers hostile to Western values or human rights.