South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is now the second world leader that Trump has openly admonished in a White House press briefing (Volodymyr Zelensky being the first). Trump was asked by a journalist, “What will it take for you to be convinced that there’s no white genocide in South Africa?” And in response, he played a pre-planned video showing supposed evidence for the genocide, which Ramaphosa, like a schoolboy in detention, was made to sit through.
The South African leader’s dressing down was of course met with rapturous applause from Trump’s supporters on social media. ‘Finally, a president who talks tough! Why don’t we do all diplomacy like this?’
Well, there’s a reason, actually. Diplomacy is meant to be about advancing your country’s interests—not about winning clout on social media. And it’s clear that Trump’s performance did nothing but harm US interests. Trump’s supporters may have seen a tough guy telling it like it is. What Africans saw was an arrogant Westerner talking down to a black man.
To begin with, the claim that there’s a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa is preposterous. Yes, South Africa is an extremely violent place—but the violence is overwhelmingly black-on-black. Countries experiencing a genocide invariably see sharp falls in life expectancy. South Africa has seen no such fall. And according to the most recent study I could find, life expectancy among non-blacks is about ten years higher than among blacks.
This is not to say there isn’t discrimination against whites in South Africa. Nor is it to excuse the blatant anti-white rhetoric of Julius Malema, leader of the ‘Economic Freedom Fighters’. But there is no basis for the charge of genocide.
If there actually was a white genocide in South Africa, dressing down the country’s leader at a White House press briefing would hardly be the way to handle it. Rather, economic sanctions or military intervention would be called for.
The most likely effect of Trump’s performance, as Nosmot Gbadamosi argues, is to make Africans less inclined to deal with Westerners and more likely to do business with the Chinese. ‘So what?’ you might say. Well, Africa has a rapidly growing population and a lot of natural resources—including rare earths, fossil fuels and precious metals. So even if its overall economy is small, having influence there still matters.
Trump’s own goal in the meeting with Ramaphosa is part of a broader pattern of unforced errors. Since being re-elected, he has managed to shift global opinion in favour of America’s main geopolitical rival. As the map above shows, 80% of countries—including much of Europe—now view China more favourably.
The single biggest factor is probably the Trump tariffs, which have just been struck down by the courts and therefore served only to antagonise otherwise-friendly nations. Ongoing US support for Israel may help to explain the particularly dismal view of America in the Muslim world. And talk of annexing Greenland and Canada has undoubtedly soured opinion among traditional allies.
Diplomacy is never easy—though one could start by not alienating an entire continent for no material benefit.
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