Trump halts aid to South Africa, supports Afrikaner resettlement
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to halt foreign aid to South Africa and promote the resettlement of discriminated white Afrikaners in the U.S. The president condemned the law that allows for the confiscation of land from white farmers in South Africa.
The decree signed by Trump calls for stopping all aid to South Africa and to "promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination."
The document instructs the departments of diplomacy and national security to "prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination." Trump made this decision while all refugee resettlements to the U.S. remain suspended and nearly all American foreign aid has been halted.
Land confiscation in South Africa
The executive order is a reaction to the controversial law passed in South Africa, which allows for the confiscation of land from white farmers who "do not make good use of it." According to the regulations, the state can expropriate the landowner if they do not utilize the land and refuse to sell it.
Trump had previously condemned South African authorities for doing "horrible things" to "certain classes of people." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to boycott the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Johannesburg in protest. Trump's advisor Elon Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa, has long accused the South African authorities of discrimination.
