Trump to skip G20 summit in South Africa

US President Donald Trump has said that he will skip this year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit, which South Africa will host in November.

Instead, Vice President JD Vance will attend the convention in his absence.

“I won’t be going this year,” Trump told members of the media at the White House on Friday. “It’s in South Africa, and JD will be going.

This follows Trump’s comments earlier in the year that he did not plan to attend the summit, and several other members of his administration have snubbed various meetings.

G20 leaders’ summits bring together the heads of state or government from the world’s major economies, including developed and emerging markets.

These summits are not limited to the core G20 member countries, such as the United States, China, Germany and India. The host nation may also extend invitations to additional countries.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola welcomed the decision and said he looked forward to engaging with Trump’s deputy.

“South Africa welcomes US President Trump’s decision to send JD Vance in his place, and we look forward to interacting with him during the summit,” Lamola said.

“We know President Trump does not like to travel long distances, but the White House will shed light on his reasons for not attending.”

Trump will not be the first member of his administration to skip a G20 meeting in this year’s host nation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipped the Finance Ministers meeting in July.

Similarly, the country’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, refused an invitation to attend the Foreign Ministers Summit in February.

Like Trump, Rubio said he was boycotting the Summit because South Africa is doing “very bad things,” citing the country’s Land Expropriation Act.

Tensions rising

Relations between the two nations have been fragile since Trump was inaugurated for his second term in February.

Trump has repeatedly criticised both South Africa’s domestic and foreign policies, taking aim at its land reform efforts, BBBEE policies and its legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to name a few.

He accused Pretoria of explicitly aligning with US foes, like Iran, China and Russia, and has taken issue with the BRICS bloc. In February, the US leader issued an executive order to cut US financial aid to South Africa.

During a White House meeting in May, Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with claims about white genocide and unlawful land seizures, which Pretoria strongly denied.

Trump has been a vocal opponent of these measures, while Ramaphosa has dismissed claims that land reform will lead to arbitrary seizures of white-owned property.

In August, the US imposed a 30% blanket tariff on South Africa, the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

The United States is scheduled to take over the rotating presidency of the G20 at the end of November and will host its next leaders’ summit in 2026.

After announcing that he would not attend this year’s leaders’ summit, Trump said that next year’s meeting will occur at his family’s private resort in Miami, Mar-a-Lago.

This is the same location where Trump planned to host the G7 summit during his first term in office in 2020. However, this never materialised due to the travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When asked whether the leaders of BRICS members China and Russia would attend the 2026 summit, Trump said he “would love them to.”