Washington (AFP) โ 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 United States.
The extraordinary stunt turned the usually staid diplomatic setting of the Oval Office into a stage for Trump's contention that white South African farmers are being persecuted.
With the media standing by and Ramaphosa at times unable to get a word in, Trump had staff put the video on a large screen, saying it showed black South Africans discussing genocide.
"You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer, and when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them," Trump said.
Trump, who had set the tone in his opening remarks when he introduced Ramaphosa as "controversial" in some quarters, said it would be the "end of the country if it's not resolved."
He also showed news clippings that he said backed up his claims.
The South African president denied that his country confiscates land from white farmers under a land expropriation law signed in January that aims to redress the historical inequalities of white minority rule.
"No, no, no, no," Ramaphosa responded. "Nobody can take land."
He also insisted that most victims of South Africa's notoriously high crime rate are black.
The visit by the South African leader had been billed as a chance to smoothen relations following unfounded genocide claims by Trump and his billionaire, South African-born ally Elon Musk.
Musk, who was also in the Oval Office, has been a key driver of the "white genocide" claims.
"We are essentially here to reset the relationship between the United States and South Africa," Ramaphosa said.
But Ramaphosa was left repeatedly trying to speak as the video played, even as Trump drowned him out. "Where is this?" added the South African president as he shuffled awkwardly in his seat.
In the video, firebrand far-left opposition lawmaker Julius Malema was shown singing "Kill the Boer, kill the farmer" -- an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule.
The video finished with images of a protest in South Africa where white crosses were placed along a rural roadside to represent murdered farmers, but which Trump falsely said showed their graves.
At one point, Ramaphosa 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.
Ramaphosa had arrived at the White House with two of South Africa's top golfers, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a bid to woo the golf-loving US president.
The support of the high-profile Afrikaners in Ramaphosa's delegation came days after around 50 Afrikaners arrived in the United States to take up Trump's offer of "refuge."
Trump made the offer despite the United States having halted arrivals of asylum seekers from most of the rest of the world as he cracks down on migration.
The Oval Office stunt revived memories of the notorious Oval Office incident in February when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But Ramaphosa appeared to be better prepared, staying calm and pushing his calls for improved relations.
The two golfers also sought to calm the waters when Trump asked them to speak.
"We want to see things get better in our home country. That's the bottom line," said four-time major winner Els.
The South African president was also expected to come bearing gifts, with reports that of offering Musk a deal to operate his Starlink satellite internet network in the country.
Trump's administration has torn into South Africa since the US president began his second term in office.
It has slammed South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, cut foreign aid, announced 31 percent tariffs, and expelled Pretoria's ambassador after he criticised Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
This is his new move, I hope world leaders are taking notes and will act accordingly. Nobody should meet with him going forward, as he is creating these ambushes for the camera where he just yells over them because he knows they'll still try to act reasonable.