In bombshell news that surfaced overnight, the United States is in effect expelling South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the envoy of hating the country and President Donald Trump.
In a post on X, Rubio referenced an article from the right-wing outlet Breitbart that quoted some of Rasool’s recent remarks made during an online lecture about the Donald Trump administration.
Rubio further stated that Ebrahim Rasool was a “race-baiting politician” who is “no longer welcome in our great country”.
Rising tensions
The shock announcement serves as the latest development in rising tensions between the two countries.
In February, Trump froze US aid to South Africa, citing a law in the country that he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers.
Last week, Trump further fuelled tensions, saying South Africa’s farmers were welcome to settle in the US after repeating his accusations that the government was “confiscating” land from white people.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that “any farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to citizenship”.
Closest allies
One of Trump’s closest allies is South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, who has accused South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s government of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
In response to Rasool’s expulsion, the SA presidency stated: “The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter. South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America.”
Rasool previously served as the country’s ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015 before being reintroduced to the post in 2025.
As a member of the ANC, Rasool has held various leadership positions in the party, while serving as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010, and as the 5th Premier of the Western Cape from 2004 to 2008.
The decision to expel Rasool comes after he allegedly told participants in a foreign policy seminar on Friday that Trump is leading a white supremacist movement in America and around the world.
“What Donald Trump is launching is an assault on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilising a supremacism against the incumbency, at home… and abroad,” Ebrahim Rasool said at the event.
He added that the Maga movement was a response “to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the USA in which the voting electorate… is projected to become 48 percent white”.
This developing news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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