Ramaphosa Remains Calm After Oval Office 'Ambush'

"They say there's a lot of bad things going on in Africa. And that's what we're going to be discussing today," President Trump said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday. Trump went on to claim that "genocide" was being committed in South Africa, with white farmers "executed" after having their land taken away. "I'd like to know where that is, because this I've never seen," Ramaphosa said after Trump had the lights dimmed to show a video he said backed up the allegations, the Guardian reports. Trump also held up printouts of news stories, saying, "Death, death." The BBC describes the playing of the video as an "ambush."

According to the New York Times, members of the South African delegation, including golfer Ernie Els, "appeared flabbergasted as the video played." The video showed the utterances, including "Kill the Boer," of opposition politician Julius Malema, who has pushed for land expropriation. It also showed what Trump said were crosses marking the graves of thousands of white farmers. Ramaphosa calmly pushed back against the allegations, saying his minister of agriculture is white and "has joined my government at my invitation to address this very issue that you just raised." South Africa has a high murder rate, but statistics show that white South Africans are not being killed at a higher rate than others.

The Times reports that Trump "appeared to calm down" after white South African billionaire Johann Rupert said "too many" people were being killed but "it's not only white farmers" and US technology could help South Africa deal with the issue. Elon Musk was also present, but Trump said he didn't want to get him involved. The BBC reports that the meeting—which some officials feared could have been an "unmitigated disaster"—was reminiscent of the Oval Office meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in February, but unlike the Ukrainian leader, Ramaphosa "did not lose his composure." Ramaphosa repeatedly tried to steer the conversation toward trade. At one point, he quipped, "I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you." Trump replied, "I wish you did, I'd take it," per the Hill. (More South Africa stories.)