JOHANNESBURG: The White House launched a new verbal attack on South Africa during the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg this weekend. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly hit back at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after Pretoria refused to allow a US embassy delegation to participate in the summit’s closing ceremony.
The US will take over the presidency of the G-20 next year. But Ramaphosa’s spokesman told reporters at the summit here that their president will not carry out the ceremonial handover to a junior diplomat. Washington had requested that the embassy’s charge d’affaires be sent to the ceremony.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the opening session of the G-20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, November 22, 2025. (Misper Apawu/AP Phot/Pool)
Kelly continued: “This, coupled with South Africa’s commitment to issue a G-20 Leaders Declaration despite consistent and robust US objections, underscores the fact that they have weaponized their G-20 presidency to undermine the founding principles of the G-20. President Trump looks forward to restoring the legitimacy of the G-20 in the US’s hosting year of 2026.”
Trump withdrew all US participation in the summit over his claims that some white South Africans were discriminated against on racist grounds.
He continued: “How can the first G-20 hosted by an African government in Africa ignore how Africa – from Mozambique to Mali, the DRC, Nigeria, Sudan and so many other countries – has become the central front of Islamist terrorism?
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Members of St. Leo Catholic Church hold a procession to mark Palm Sunday in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria on April 13, 2025. (Adekunle Ajayi/Getty Images)
“On Friday, more than 300 girls and 12 teachers were abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria,” he added. “Who will stand up for these children and save them? The silence of the G-20 statement on this and other jihadist atrocities on the continent is a moral disgrace, showing that the meeting is a heartless charade that history will judge harshly. God’s condemnation of Cain after his weak defense of ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ stands as an eternal accusation against the leaders of the G-20 – ‘What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.'”
Forty-two world leaders and major institutions such as the UN are represented at the summit. Only one of them, Italian President Giorgia Meloni, has discussed the issue of Christian persecution in recent days – and she did so on Friday, before the summit started. Post to Xshe wrote: “We call on the Nigerian government to strengthen protections for Christian communities and all religious communities and to prosecute those responsible for these heinous attacks.”
The White House could question the validity of the Leaders’ Declaration drafted at the G-20. It is possible that Ramaphosa did not realize his microphone was open at the start of proceedings on Saturday. Journalists in the media center next to the main summit room could hear him tell leaders that the final 122-point resolution was ready for them to endorse – before they had even spoken about it.
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As it stands, South Africa has officially designated the US as “absent” from this G-20 summit. The only American presence here this weekend was the American flag in the media center.
The last G-20 summit in South Africa Leaders’ Statement was released on Sunday with the only reference to religion, noting: “We condemn all attacks on civilians and infrastructure. We further affirm that, in accordance with the UN Charter, all States shall refrain from the threat or use of force in pursuit of territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any State, and that States shall develop friendly relations among nations, including by promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all, without discrimination on grounds of race, gender, language or religion. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
