U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that South Africa will not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, the first time a member nation has been excluded in the forum’s two-decade history
The move follows Washington’s boycott of last week’s G20 leaders’ meeting in Johannesburg, which Trump refused to attend, accusing South Africa of “weaponising” its position as host.
In a social-media post, Trump claimed that South Africa declined to allow a U.S. Embassy representative to assume the G20 presidency at the closing ceremony. He described the government in Pretoria as “not worthy of membership anywhere” and said the United States would halt remaining payments and subsidies to the country “effective immediately”.
Trump also revived long-standing and widely debunked claims of “genocide” against white farmers in South Africa — allegations consistently dismissed as false by U.S. officials, researchers, and human-rights organisations. His administration had already suspended aid to Pretoria in February, citing alleged discrimination.
Bilateral relations have deteriorated sharply throughout the year. In March, the U.S. State Department expelled South Africa’s ambassador, declaring him persona non grata. The United States then declined to send senior officials to Johannesburg for the G20 summit, leaving no high-ranking American representative to take part in the ceremonial handover.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office called Trump's post "regrettable." Ramaphosa said that since the U.S. delegation was not present at the summit last week, "instruments of the G20 Presidency were duly handover to a U.S. Embassy official at the Headquarters of South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation."
"It is regrettable that despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset the diplomatic relationship with the U.S., President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country," Ramaphosa's office said.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preparing to elevate Poland’s role at the 2026 summit. Polish President Karol Nawrocki — a close Trump ally — has said he was invited to next year’s G20 and is lobbying for Poland to join the group. Warsaw argues that, as the world’s twentieth-largest economy by certain measures and a country with uninterrupted growth for 35 years, its bid is justified.
The 2026 G20 summit is scheduled to be held at Trump’s Doral golf resort in Florida next December.
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