The White House on Thursday confirmed that the United States will not participate in the G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend, contradicting earlier remarks by the South African president that Washington had expressed interest in attending.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had spoken earlier on Thursday about a sudden shift in the Trump administration's stance, which had been sharply critical of his country's treatment of white farmers, a minority group.
However, the White House stated that U.S. participation would be limited to the ambassador attending the ceremony marking the handover of the group's rotating presidency, which the United States will host next year.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt told reporters, "The United States will not be participating in the formal G20 discussions in South Africa."
She added, "The South African president spoke a bit against the United States and the U.S. president earlier today, and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team."
Ramaphosa had previously said that the United States had "changed its mind about participating in some way at the summit," calling it a "positive sign."
“All countries are here, and the United States, the world’s largest economy, should be here,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s remarks came despite the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria notifying him that it would not be attending.
In a letter over the weekend, the embassy said the G20’s priorities in South Africa “are at odds with the political positions of the United States, and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your chairmanship.”
Trump had initially agreed to send Vice President J.D. Vance to the G20 talks in Pretoria, but then reversed course and ruled out any participation.
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