World
Trump yanks G20 invitation from South Africa over false genocide claims
United States President Donald Trump has taken to social media to announce that South Africa will not be allowed to attend next year’s Group of 20 (G20) intergovernmental forum in Miami, Florida.
In Wednesday’s post, Trump renewed false claims that a white “genocide” was unfolding in the African country.
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He also repeated his threat that South Africa would no longer receive funding from the US, a policy he put in place earlier this year.
“South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere,” Trump wrote. “We are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”
The message on Truth Social was the latest escalation in Trump’s ongoing feud with South Africa, a country he has accused of “shocking disregard” for the rights of white Afrikaners.
Human rights experts agree there is no basis for Trump’s claims of an Afrikaner genocide.
Yet, Trump has repeatedly cited such claims as he puts pressure on the government of his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa. He has also blamed the media for failing to carry his message.
“The South African Government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific Human Right [sic] Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers,” Trump wrote on Wednesday.
“To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them. Perhaps, worst of all, the soon to be out of business New York Times and the Fake News Media won’t issue a word against this genocide.”
Passing the gavel
Trump’s latest comments come after an awkward diplomatic incident over the weekend, one that highlighted the increasingly fractious nature of US-South African relations.
In recent decades, the two countries have enjoyed largely amicable ties.
The US is South Africa’s second largest single-country trading partner, behind China, and business between the two countries is valued at approximately $26.2bn, as of 2024.
But last weekend’s G20 summit in the South African city of Johannesburg signalled how dramatically the relationship between the two countries had changed.
The summit was a big deal for Africa as a whole: It was the first time the continent had hosted the G20 leaders.
But while the US is typically a major presence at the G20, this time, the Trump administration decided to boycott the proceedings. Not only did Trump refuse to attend, but he also declined to send any top officials from Washington, DC, to the event.
“It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa,” he wrote in a post on November 7.
“No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”
The G20 has traditionally been a meeting ground for leaders from the European Union, the African Union and other major world economies to discuss technology, environmental initiatives and shared financial growth.
Next year, the summit is scheduled to take place in Miami. Traditionally, the host of the G20 summit closes the meeting by banging a gavel and then passing the little wooden hammer to officials from the next country to hold the meeting.
But on Sunday, Ramaphosa did not pass the gavel to anyone.
Trump confirmed reports on Wednesday that he had offered to send a member of the US Embassy to accept the gavel, but that the offer had been rejected by Ramaphosa’s administration as a slight.
“At the conclusion of the G20, South Africa refused to hand off the G20 Presidency to a Senior Representative from our U.S. Embassy, who attended the Closing Ceremony,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20.”
Heightened tensions
Ramaphosa largely avoided addressing the US absence during the G20 conference, instead underscoring his push for global unity and efforts to combat inequality.
“Our G20 Presidency has been rooted in the conviction that the world needs more solidarity, equality and sustainability,” Ramaphosa wrote on social media on Tuesday.
“While some have sought to create division and polarisation between nations, we have reinforced our shared humanity. We have fostered collaboration and goodwill. Above all, we have affirmed that our shared goals outweigh our differences.”
The increasingly hostile relations between South Africa and the US began early in Trump’s second term as president.
On February 7, Trump issued an executive action denouncing South Africa for alleged human rights abuses against white Afrikaners and saying that all aid and assistance to the country would stop.
As of fiscal year 2023, US assistance to South Africa totalled approximately $441.3m, according to government statistics. In fiscal year 2024, which is only partially reported at present, the total rose to approximately $581m.
In February’s order, Trump also directed US government agencies to assist in the resettlement of Afrikaners as “refugees” in the US.
He doubled down on that call in late October, when he set the lowest cap on refugee admissions in US history.
Of the 7,500 available refugee slots, the Trump administration called for the majority to be “allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa” and other “victims of illegal or unjust discrimination”.
In May, Trump also hosted Ramaphosa at the White House, where he attempted to confront the South African leader with accusations of genocide in his country. Some critics have compared the meeting to an “ambush”.
Ramaphosa, for his part, has repeatedly denied the accusations. When asked by reporters about the US boycotting the G20 this year, he said bluntly, “Their absence is their loss.”
World
Nobel Institute shuts down talk of Venezuelan leader sharing Peace Prize with Trump
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The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize rejected recent suggestions that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado could give or share her award with President Donald Trump.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute shut down the idea Friday, after Machado suggested that she might transfer the prestigious award to Trump earlier this week.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others,” the institute said in a statement. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”
The statement comes after Machado floated the idea during an appearance Tuesday on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
UNITED NATIONS ‘UPSET’ THAT TRUMP TOOK ‘BOLD ACTION’ TO IMPROVE VENEZUELA, SAYS UN AMB. MIKE WALTZ
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado waves at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, early Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP)
“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”
Machado responded, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado continued. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”
TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS
Nobel officials said the Peace Prize cannot be shared after Machado suggested honoring Trump. (REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno and Win McNamee/Getty Images)
On Jan. 3, Trump announced that the U.S. had successfully completed an operation to capture authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing drug trafficking charges in New York.
Trump was asked during an appearance Thursday on “Hannity” whether he would accept the Nobel Prize from Machado.
“I’ve heard that she wants to do that,” Trump responded. “That would be a great honor.”
TRUMP OUSTING OF MADURO DRAWS PARALLELS TO US RAID IN PANAMA – BUT THERE ARE SOME MAJOR CONTRASTS
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures during an anti-government protest on January 9, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
Machado secretly escaped Venezuela last month and traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump.
“Let me be very clear. As soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated it to President Trump because I believed at that point that he deserved it,” Machado said on “Hannity.” “And a lot of people, most people, said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd.”
Trump said he plans to meet with the Venezuelan opposition leader in Washington next week.
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He has previously stated that Machado “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead. Trump has supported acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro loyalist, who previously served as vice president under Maduro.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
World
Somali minister says Israel plans to displace Palestinians to Somaliland
Somalia’s minister of defence, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, has accused Israel of planning to forcibly displace Palestinians to the breakaway region of Somaliland, denouncing the alleged plan as a “serious violation” of international law.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Fiqi called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw his diplomatic recognition of the “separatist region”, calling the move announced late last year a “direct attack” on Somalia’s sovereignty.
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“Israel has long had goals and plans to divide countries – maybe before 20 years – and it wants to divide the map of the Middle East and control its countries… this is why they found this separatist group in northwestern Somalia,” Fiqi told Al Jazeera.
“We have confirmed information that Israel has a plan to transfer Palestinians and to send them to [Somaliland],” he added, without elaborating.
Fiqi’s comments came amid a global outcry over Netanyahu’s decision in December to recognise Somaliland, a breakaway part of Somalia comprising the northwestern portion of what was once the British Protectorate.
The move made Israel the first country in the world to recognise Somaliland as an independent state and came months after The Associated Press news agency reported that Israeli officials had contacted parties in Somalia, Somaliland and Sudan to discuss using their territory for forcibly displacing Palestinians amid its genocidal war on Gaza.
Somalia denounced the Israeli move, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud telling Al Jazeera that Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: The resettlement of Palestinians, the establishment of a military base on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalise ties with Israel.
Officials in Somaliland have denied agreeing to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, and say there have been no discussions on an Israeli military base in the area.
But Fiqi on Saturday reiterated that Israel “wants to create a military base to destabilise the region” on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea.
“I see it as an occupation to destabilise the area,” Fiqi added.
He also stressed that Israel has no legal right to grant legitimacy to a region within a sovereign state.
Somaliland first declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but it has failed to gain recognition from any United Nations member state since.
Israel’s world-first announcement triggered protests in Somalia and swift criticisms from dozens of countries and organisations, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.
Fiqi told Al Jazeera that Israel’s move falls into a decades-long goal to control the Middle East and accused Israel of exploiting separatist movements in the region. Roughly half of the areas formerly known as Somaliland have declared their affiliation with Somalia over the past two years, he added.
The minister praised the countries that had condemned Israel and pledged that Somalia would lean on all diplomatic and legal means to reject Israel’s “violation”.
He also commended United States President Donald Trump’s administration for not recognising Somaliland.
Although the US was the only member of the 15-member United Nations Security Council that did not condemn Israel for the recognition on December 30, it said its position on Somaliland had not changed.
For its part, Somaliland’s governing party has defended its newfound relations with Israel after Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar travelled to Hargeisa, the region’s largest city and self-declared capital, earlier this week.
Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, chairman of the governing Waddani party, told Al Jazeera days later that Somaliland was “not in a position to choose” who provided it with legitimacy after decades of being spurned by the international community.
“We are in a state of necessity for official international recognition,” Hassan said. “There is no choice before us but to welcome any country that recognises our existential right.”
Hassan did not deny the prospect of a potential military base.
“We have started diplomatic relations… This topic [a military base] has not been touched upon now,” he said.
When pressed on whether Somaliland would accept such a request in the future, Hassan said only to “ask the question when the time comes”, calling the line of inquiry “untimely”.
Israeli think tanks say Somaliland’s location, at the gateway to the Red Sea and across from Yemen, make it a strategic site for operations against the Yemeni Houthi rebel group, which imposed a naval blockade on Israeli-linked shipping before the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
The Institute for National Security Studies, in a November report, said Somaliland’s territory could “serve as a forward base” for intelligence monitoring of the Houthis and serve “a platform for direct operations” against them.
The Houthis said that any Israeli presence would be a target, a statement Somaliland’s former intelligence chief, Mostafa Hasan, said amounted to a declaration of war.
World
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