Unpacking Trump’s ‘White Genocide’ Claims: A Fact-Check of the Tense Oval Office Clash with Ramaphosa

 

On May 21, 2025, a tense White House Oval Office meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa turned dramatic. What had been a diplomatic attempt to re-set U.S.-South Africa relations devolved into a heated discussion when Trump blindsided Ramaphosa with videos and reports he asserted demonstrated a "white genocide" against Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. The allegations against him, fueled by the likes of Elon Musk, have lingered in the global consciousness, re-opening debates concerning race, crime, and history in South Africa. On Trump's claims: Do they hold water? Let's explore the facts, context, and implications of this explosive meeting.

The Oval Office Ambush: What Happened?

The session was intended to be trade-focused, main minerals, and repairing relations that were tautened by Trump's past moves, such as reducing aid to South Africa by half, kicking out its ambassador, and granting refugee status to 59 white South Africans. Ramaphosa, the veteran diplomat who assisted in ending the nation's apartheid era, came with a delegation of big brains with a host of top white South Africans such as golfing icons Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, billionaire Johann Rupert, and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen to reinforce solidarity and reject Trump's message. But the mood changed when a journalist asked Trump how much evidence would convince him that there wasn't genocide in South Africa. 

Trump then turned off the lights and showed a nearly five-minute video montage, which he said shows proof of orchestrated attacks on white farmers. The clip contained images of opposition politician Julius Malema singing "Kill the Boer," a freedom song denouncing apartheid, and photographs of white crosses along a road, to which Trump referred as "cemetery sites" for more than a thousand murdered white farmers. Trump also provided Ramaphosa with a pile of stories, grumbling "death, death, death" as he swished through headlines, which he said had reported violence against white South Africans on a large scale. Ramaphosa, looking shaken but collected, responded. He made it clear that Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is a minority party, not government, and that the song was not indicative of government policy.

"There is crime in our country," Ramaphosa declared, "but the victims are mostly Black." He gestured toward his white delegates and stated, "If it was Afrikaner farmer killing, I could wager these three gentlemen would not be sitting here." Despite all his better angels, Trump continued, cutting him off to interject, "The farmers aren't Black." The Claims: White Genocide and Land Seizures Trump's claims are based on two claims: white Afrikaner farmers are being systematically murdered in a racially driven "genocide" and the government of South Africa is taking their land for free. These notions are built on a narrative propagated by far-right groups across the U.S. and throughout the world, typically escalated by the likes of Musk, who tweeted in 2023 that South Africa was "openly pushing for genocide of white people." Let's discuss each point.

Claim 1: White Farmers Are Victims of Genocide

According to the United Nations, in law, the term "genocide" describes acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

Trump's evidence was a video recording of white crosses that he presented as the graves of more than one thousand white farmers.

But this footage, taken at a 2020 protest in KwaZulu-Natal against the murder of farmers Glen and Vida Rafferty, included a memorial, not a grave. Nathan Rafferty, son of a victim, promised NPR that the crosses were a memorial, not graves, and dismissed as fanciful the notion of a planned genocide."Crime statistics for South Africa uncover a larger picture.". The nation boasts the globe's highest murder rate at 26,232 murders in 2024 alone, a report by the South African Police Service (SAPS) indicates.

Of the total, only 44 were farm community-based, eight of which were farmer-related. Even though SAPS doesn't classify victims according to ethnicity, recent statistics published last month as a result of Trump's allegations confirmed that six individuals were murdered on farms between January and March of 2025 and only one was a white farmer, while the rest were probably Black workers or security officials. These figures, while abysmal, account for under 1% of overall murders and hardly indicate a racially motivated attack on white farmers. Experts such as Gareth Newham of the Institute for Security Studies highlight that farm attacks are usually opportunity crimes, fueled by socio-economic and South Africa's crime conditions, rather than racial hatred. A further court judgment in February 2025 in South Africa debunked white genocide assertions as "clearly imagined and not real," once again establishing that evidence is insufficient to prove genocide. Claim 2: Land Seizures Without Compensation

Trump also suggested that the government of South Africa is confiscating white-owned land, resulting in attacks on farmers.

The accusation is linked to a contentious land reform bill signed into law by President Ramaphosa in January of 2025 permitting the state to seize land "in the public interest" under exceptional conditions without compensation provided negotiations with owners of the property break down.

But not a single piece of land has been taken over under this act, and the government has attempted to induce people to sell willingly in a bid to rectify the historic injustices of apartheid, when Black South Africans had their land taken away. White South Africans, who constitute 7.3% of the population, control 72% of the land, a hangover from colonial and apartheid practices. The government's attempts at land reform seek to correct this, but some white farmers, along with other critics, worry it might turn into Zimbabwe-style land grabs. However, according to Agriculture Minister Steenhuisen, the majority of farmers prefer to remain in South Africa, and no one has seen any signs of large-scale, violent land takeovers. The Video Proof: Misrepresentations and Faux Pas

The videos Trump had shown were full of inaccuracies.

The first video had Julius Malema singing "Kill the Boer," an anti-apartheid liberation struggle song.

Though the song has insulting lyrics, three South African courts have held that it is a liberation chant of history and not an actual call to violence. Malema, who was ousted from Ramaphosa's African National Congress (ANC) in 2012, commands the EFF, which garnered 9.5% of the vote in 2024, and his statements are not reflective of policy. The second video mentioned previous President Jacob Zuma singing from the same hymn book back in 2012, yet the ANC distanced itself then and Zuma now commands an opposition party. Most glaringly, Trump posted a photo of body bags and claimed it was dead white South African farmers. In fact, it was a February 2025 Reuters screen grab showing humanitarian aid workers in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, after a clash with M23 rebels.

Andrea Widburg, author on the "American Thinker" blog posting in which the photo had been inserted, conceded to Reuters that Trump had "misidentified" it. These misrepresentations discredit Trump's assertions, showing dependence on untrustworthy or false sources. The Context: Crime, Race, and Historical Wounds The 45 murders per 100,000 crime rate in 2023 in South Africa is a real challenge for all communities.

Black South Africans, who comprise 81% of the population, are disproportionately hit by violent crime, with Ramaphosa highlighting that most of the victims are Black.

Farm attacks, although usually violent, are a small part of this greater crisis and are not racially motivated. The "white genocide" myth has taken hold, however, among far-right movements around the world, fueled by choice anecdotes and amplified by the likes of Musk and ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. It is a story that refuses to acknowledge the complicated history of South Africa. The past apartheid government, which at last collapsed in 1994, had entrenched race disparities, and white South Africans were now blessed with excess wealth and ownership of land.

White South Africans are now commanding 62% of senior managerial positions and 20 times more wealth that Black South Africans can on average access. ANC's measures to correct such imbalances, like affirmative action and land reform, are controversial but intended to correct past injustices, not harass white citizens. The Fallout: Diplomatic and Domestic Consequences Oval Office standoff has tested relations between the U.S. and South Africa.

Ramaphosa, wanting to trade and avert tariffs, departed without guarantees, with the threat of a 30% tariff on South African citrus fruit.

His measured tone and allusion to Nelson Mandela's track record of reconciliation were welcomed by some South Africans but deplored by others, especially right-wing Afrikaner factions, as they welcomed Trump's position. Resettlement of 59 Afrikaners as American refugees, following Trump's reprieve of other plans, has been denounced as selective. At home, Trump's emphasis on the topic resonates with a white nationalist base, positioning South Africa as a cautionary tale of "reverse apartheid." It is part of a larger second-term narrative of portraying efforts at equity as discriminatory against whites, a message that resonates with some but runs the risk of fueling racial strife worldwide. Conclusion: A Narrative Built on Sand

Trump's "white genocide" assertions won't hold up. The evidence—misleading videos, distorted photographs, unstatistical proof—isn't there to back indiscriminate, racially driven killing or theft of land. South Africa's crime issue is real and horrendous but race-free, disproportionately affecting Black citizens. By spreading a discredited conspiracy narrative, Trump not only distorts South Africa's reality but also risks undermining diplomacy for political advantage.

Ramaphosa's statesmanlike reaction, backed by fact and multicultural support group, underscored South Africa's devotion to reconciliation and unity. So long as the country grapples with its post-apartheid project, the world is well advised to listen for its nuance rather than its salacious fables. For anyone interested in the truth, South Africans, both Black and white, voice in thousands and hundreds of thousands what is light-years away from Trump's assertion.