Trump to skip G-20 summit in South Africa, sends VP Vance instead

US President Donald Trump announced on September 5 that he will not attend this year’s Group of 20 (G-20) leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, scheduled for November, following months of criticism of South Africa’s government over his unfounded claims of a “genocide” against White Afrikaners.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would represent the United States, Caliber.Az reports via Bloomberg. 

“He looks forward to it, but no, I won’t be going,” the president said.

Speculation had surrounded Trump’s participation in the summit for months. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested the president would not attend, accusing Pretoria of being “consistently unaligned” with US policy.

Tensions escalated earlier this year when Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a video alleging that White farmers were being targeted. The episode disrupted Ramaphosa’s visit to Washington, which had been aimed at repairing relations and persuading Trump to abandon the conspiracy theory.

After the meeting, Ramaphosa sought to downplay the clash, voicing optimism that Trump would join the November summit. Instead, the US president announced plans to host next year’s G-20 gathering at his Doral resort in south Florida.

Trump has rarely skipped opportunities on the world stage. During his first term, he attended the first three G-20 summits in person, with the fourth held virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

By Sabina Mammadli