South African visit: Mr. Trump ambushed President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa in the Oval Office with videos intended to support his false claim of mass killings of Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority that once led the nation’s apartheid government. Mr. Ramaphosa pushed back on Mr. Trump and sought to articulate the reality on the ground there.

Washington DC – President Donald Trump ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday by playing him a video that he claimed proved genocide is being committed against white people, driving farmers to flee to the US.

Donald Trump (r.) ambushed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa by playing him a video that he claimed proved genocide is being committed against white people.© JIM WATSON / AFP

The unexpected stunt turned the usually staid diplomatic setting of the Oval Office into a stage for Trump’s contention that white South Africans are being persecuted.

« They’re white farmers, and they’re fleeing South Africa, and it’s a very sad thing to see. But I hope we can have an explanation of that, because I know you don’t want that, » Trump said.

Ramaphosa repeatedly tried to speak but was drowned out. At one point, he pleaded that they « talk about it very calmly. »

« We were taught by Nelson Mandela that whenever there are problems, people need to sit down around the table and talk about them. And this is precisely what we would also like to talk about, » he said.  Continue reading

The visit by the South African leader was billed as a chance to smooth relations following vociferous – and unfounded – genocide claims by Trump and his billionaire, South African-born ally Elon Musk, who was also in the Oval Office.

« We are essentially here to reset the relationship between the United States and South A