Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Palestinians in Gaza still waiting to receive much-needed aid, and the killing of a former Ukrainian official in Spain.
Unsubstantiated Allegations
A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday turned into a spectacle when the U.S. leader presented Pretoria’s delegation with a video purporting to show evidence of an ongoing genocide against white farmers in South Africa.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the country’s new Expropriation Act discriminates against white South Africans. The law’s stated purpose is to redress apartheid-era land inequality by allowing Pretoria to seize property in limited circumstances for redistribution. No land has been expropriated under the law as of this time.
The White House has also accused South Africa of targeted violence and killings of primarily white farmers. In a tone reminiscent of Trump’s fateful Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February, Trump ambushed Ramaphosa with heated allegations, including a more than 4-minute-long video showing inflammatory statements made by firebrand South African politician Julius Malema, a member of parliament and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party, as well as other alleged evidence of genocide.
At one point during the meeting, Trump claimed that there were more than “1,000 burial sites” of white South African farmers in the country. Ramaphosa responded with: “I’d like to know where that is. Because this I’ve never seen.” South Africa maintains that there is no evidence of widespread persecution or genocide against white Afrikaners occurring in the country, and Trump has been unable to provide verifiable evidence of widespread killings taking place.
Throughout Wednesday’s meeting, Ramaphosa’s team tried to redirect talks back to trade and investment opportunities. “We have too many deaths; it’s not only white farmers,” South African billionaire Johann Rupert said, alluding to the country’s high crime rate. “It’s across the board, and we need technological help. We need Starlink at every little police station. We need drones.”
Mentioning Starlink by name was likely a calculated choice. The tech company’s CEO, Trump advisor Elon Musk, is from South Africa and has served as one of the most vocal proponents of Trump’s new tough line against Pretoria since the U.S. president’s second term began. Musk was in the room during the Trump-Ramaphosa meeting.
The U.S.-South Africa relationship has reached historic lows in recent months. Since taking office in January, Trump has slashed foreign aid to South Africa, expelled its ambassador, announced hefty tariffs on South African imports, and threatened to boycott the G-20 summit in Johannesburg in November. Last week, the United States also welcomed its first flight of white South Africans who obtained refugee status under the Trump administration by claiming that they face discrimination at home.
The United States and South Africa need to “reset” their relationship, Ramaphosa said on Wednesday. He pointed to critical minerals, peace talks for Ukraine and the Middle East, and global institutions as areas of potential collaboration.
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What We’re Following
Waiting for aid in Gaza. Authorities have not yet distributed aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the United Nations said on Wednesday, despite Israel partially lifting its blockade on humanitarian assistance entering the territory this week. According to Israeli officials, 93 trucks carrying food and medical equipment passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza on Tuesday. However, U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Israel did not allow aid workers to bring those supplies into the U.N. warehouse.
“I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring to an end the hostilities, the devastating price of which is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick,” Pope Leo XIV said on Wednesday, joining a growing queue of foreign leaders pressuring Israel to fully allow aid into Gaza. Experts warn that a continued blockade could result in famine for the roughly 2 million Palestinians living in the territory.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces fired “warning shots” at a foreign delegation visiting the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday. The group—consisting of diplomats from more than 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, and Canada—was on an official mission to assess the humanitarian situation at the Jenin refugee camp when the Israeli military said the group “deviated from the approved route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be.”
“IDF soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots to distance them away,” the military added. No injuries were reported. The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry called the incident a “deliberate and unlawful act,” and European officials were quick to condemn Israel’s actions and demand accountability.
High-profile assassination. A senior advisor to former pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was shot to death on Wednesday outside a school in Madrid that at least one of his children attended. Andrii Portnov, 51, was known for drafting legislation aimed at punishing anti-government protesters who opposed, and eventually ousted, Yanukovych. He was initially accused of treason for alleged involvement in Russia’s annexation of Crimea, though the case was later dropped, and he was the subject of U.S. and European sanctions over alleged corruption in Kyiv.
It is unclear who killed Portnov. According to local police, the assailants fled on foot after shooting Portnov several times in the head and body. His death, however, is the latest in a string of high-profile assassinations since the Russia-Ukraine war began. Other recent killings include journalist Darya Dugina, who was the daughter of an influential Russian nationalist; Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky; and Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who commanded Moscow’s nuclear and chemical weapons forces.
Balochistan bombing. A suicide bomber targeted a school bus en route to a military-run school in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Wednesday, killing at least five people—including several children—and injuring more than 50 others. No group has claimed responsibility yet, but experts suspect that ethnic Baloch separatists may have been behind the attack, as the southwestern province has been the epicenter of a long-running insurgency against Islamabad.
Pakistan’s military called the bombing “yet another cowardly and ghastly attack” and accused neighboring India of planning the assault and using “its proxies in Balochistan” to carry it out. “The attack on a school bus by terrorists backed by India is clear proof of their hostility toward education in Balochistan,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
New Delhi has not issued an immediate comment on the accusations. But experts worry that Islamabad’s assertion could collapse the already fragile cease-fire deal that India and Pakistan agreed to earlier this month to halt deadly cross-border attacks.
Odds and Ends
Not all press is good press. Japanese Agriculture Minister Taku Eto resigned on Wednesday after joking that he “never had to buy rice” due to gifts from his supporters. His remarks sparked fierce backlash from Japanese citizens who are struggling with historically high food prices. Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has already been tapped to replace him. “I’m going into this job with the mindset that I am essentially the ‘minister in charge of rice,’” Koizumi said.
The post Trump Ambushes Ramaphosa With ‘White Genocide’ Video appeared first on Foreign Policy.
