By Dylan Bettencourt
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio refuses to attend the G20 meeting in South Africa, claiming the country has an anti-American agenda.
- President Ramaphosa defends SA’s land reform plans and speaks to Elon Musk about Trump spreading false information.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he won’t come to South Africa for important G20 talks because he thinks the country is “anti-American.”
Rubio’s decision comes just after US President Donald Trump attacked South Africa over its plans to make land ownership fairer for all races.
Writing on X, Rubio said he would stay away from the meeting of world leaders set for Johannesburg on 20–21 February.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability,’” Rubio wrote in his post.
“In other words: DEI and climate change.”
Trump has been fighting against DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) since he moved back to the White House last month.
“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” said Rubio.
President Cyril Ramaphosa hit back at Trump’s claims that South Africa was “confiscating” land. He said he was ready to explain how the government’s land reform works.
Ramaphosa even spoke to Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, about the “wrong information” the US president was spreading.
America’s decision to skip the meeting is a big problem for the G20, which brings together the world’s richest countries.
The meeting could have been the first time Rubio met with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, as Trump wants to talk about ending the Ukraine war.
Pictured above: Marco Rubio.
Source: @marcorubio
