onePresident Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday as tensions between the United States and South Africa.

Prior to the meeting, President Ramaphosa expressed his hopes for a trade agreement with the United States that could resolve the damaged relationship between the two countries.

"Whether we like it or not, we're all joining the hips, we need to talk to them. We want to drive out the United States with a very good trade deal ... and cementing the good relationship between our two countries," Ramaphosa said in an interview shared on May 16. The South African leader added that the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war will also be discussed.

The meeting was held at a critical period, as Trump has strongly criticized Ramaphosa's rule over South Africa since returning to his second term in the White House, claiming a "genocide" by a white farmer. Ramaphosa's government has denied the allegations.

There is history between Trump and Ramaphosa because this is not the first friction. In 2018, during his first term, Trump was criticized by the South African government after posting "false information" on social media about "mass killing farmers" on "massive killing farmers". Trump asked then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to "searchingly study" the situation after Fox News reported that "the South African government is now taking land from white farmers."

South African officials say Trump's assessment of the issue is a "narrow view" that it simply seeks to "divid" their country and "remind" them of the colonial past.

Meanwhile, so far, Elon Musk, who led the Doge Department of Efficiency, has joined Trump as a voice critic for the South African government during Trump's second term. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa and still has citizenship. In February, the Tesla CEO addressed Ramaphosa directly in an article on X, saying, “Why do you have an open racist ownership law?”

In early May, Musk AI Bot Grok of South Africa was discovered to be publishing information about "white genocide" in South Africa in response to unrelated positions and requests. The issue is said to have been resolved within a few hours, and Musk's company has since said the issue was due to unauthorized changes to the robot's prompt by rogue employees, adding that the system will be updated to resolve the issue.

Here’s what it takes to know about the escalating tensions between the United States and South Africa:

White farmers 'genocide' charge

Trump claims that the genocide is targeted at white South Africans, something Ramaphosa strongly denied. In a video posted on X on May 16, the South African president said: "We all know that South Africans, blacks and whites, there is no genocide here...the false stories that have been committed, we all know that it is not true, not who we are."

"We will promote a message from South Africa during our working visit to the United States," Ramaphosa also said.

Trump administration officials greeted more than 50 Afrikaans, descendants of Dutch colonial settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, who arrived in the United States as refugees on May 12. These were the first official refugees to arrive in the United States under the Trump administration after the president suspended all refugee enrollment on his first day of office.

Speaking to reporters about the arrival they said they “basically expanded their citizenship” so that Afrikaans could “get away from violence.” "We should have a community meeting there (in South Africa) and I don't know how we can go unless we take care of this situation. This is a genocide that happened and you don't want to write."

Trump responded to a time reporter explaining why the Afrikaans were accepted into the United States and not other refugees but were not killed… They happen to be white, but whether they are white or black has no effect on me. But white farmers were brutally killed and their land was confiscated in South Africa. ”

Ramaphosa's response to the expulsion called it a pity, but added that he was "working to straighten up" the tension.

Rasool returned to South Africa to welcome him at the airport to supporters. On his arrival, he said: "Announcement of the character nongrata is to humiliate you. But when you get back into a crowd like this and keep warm... Then I will wear my character nongrata as a badge of dignity."

Trump signs an executive order titled "Solution of Serious Actions in the Republic of South Africa"

In February, Trump signed an executive order to suspend all foreign aid to South Africa after land claimed to belong to white South Africans were confiscated and they were treated unfairly.

The executive order cites the South African Extension Act enacted in January 2024, saying it allowed the Ramaphosa government to "take agricultural property of minority Africa Dutch without compensation".

"The bill follows numerous government policies aimed at eliminating equal opportunities for employment, education and business opportunities, as well as hateful speech and government actions, which fuel disproportionate violence by landowners who are unfavorable to race," Trump's statement continued.

In response, the South African government said: "The underlying premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and the failure to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid has attracted attention."

The statement called the relocation plan for the Dutch in the United States "ironically", describing the South African group as one of the most private groups in the country's economy.

The Expropriation Act allows the government to seize private land for free, which raises concerns among the Afrikaans about the land that the state may be occupied. In South Africa, about three-quarters of private land is white. Whites are estimated to make up 8% of the country’s population, while only 4% of private land is owned by black South Africans, although it is estimated to make up 80% of the population.

Trump administration denounces South Africa's International Court of Justice case against Israel

The Trump administration disagreed with South Africa's case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accused Israel of committing genocide against the Gaza people in the Israel-Hamas war.

The president cuts aid to South Africa in Trump's executive order, "South Africa has taken a positive stance against the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel rather than Hamas of genocide in the International Court of Justice and reshaping relations with Iran to develop commercial, military and nuclear arrangements."

South Africa filed a case in December 2023, accusing Israel of genocide, saying it was “a serious concern over the plight of civilians caught by Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip, which was caused by indiscriminate use of force and forced evacuation of residents.”