May 21 (UPI) -- A meeting between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Donald Trump on Wednesday to talk about trade and diplomatic relations became tension-filled when Trump aired a video of South Africans who he said sought to kill White Afrikaners.
A reporter asked Trump what it would take for him to "believe there's no White genocide in South Africa," and, instead, Ramaphosa took the question. Replying as Trump looked directly at him, Ramaphosa said that it will take "listening to the voices of South Africans," and that if there was a White genocide in South Africa, the White members of the South African delegation would not be there with him.
Trump then replied to Ramaphosa, saying that he's heard "thousands of stories," documentaries and news stories about violence against White people in South Africa.
At that point, Trump asked for the airing of a video that featured a montage of Black South Africans who declared threats of violence against White people, which was followed by footage Trump alleged were "burial sites, over a thousand, of White farmers." The video played on a large screen wheeled into the Oval Office.
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Trump also displayed what he said were news articles about violent attacks against White Afrikaner farmers.
"I don't know, all of these are articles over the last few days, death of people, death, death, death, horrible death," Trump said.
The contentious back and forth went on for more than a half hour and was televised. In all the public session lasted more than an hour.
Ramaphosa said that the conversation would be more productive without the media present, yet Trump kept the reporters there.
After the public session, Ramaphosa said he had "in-depth exchanges" with Trump.
"The discussions revolved, of course, around golf," Ramaphosa said, referring to the presence of two South African pro-golfers at the White House meeting. "But they also revolved around issues of trade and investment."
Ramaphosa said his delegation "harped on" U.S. investment in South Africa and were worried after the tense meeting, Trump would impose harsh economic penalties.
"I was rather pleased that there is a firm agreement and undertaking that we are going to continue engaging, so there is no disengagement," Ramaphosa said in an attempt to "reset" the relationship between countries.
Ramaphosa signed a law earlier this year when the state can seize land for public purposes. Most landowners are compensated.
"You're taking people's land away from them," Trump said.
"We're not," replied Ramaphosa, who asked Agriculture Minister John Henry Steenhuisen, a White man from an opposition party, to back him up.
The minister said the Black politicians shown in the video exhorting violence against White farmers were from "opposition minority parties" that his and Ramaphosa's coalitions joined together to block from power.
Trump mentioned Elon Musk, the White South Africa-born billionaire and informal adviser, who was to his left behind the sofa. Musk didn't speak.
"Elon is from South Africa. I don't want to get him involved," Trump said. "That's all I have to do. Get him into another thing. But Elon happens to be from South Africa."
Ramaphosa also brought with him two White professional golfers from South Africa, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els, who spoke about crime in their country and urged Trump to help address it.
This was the second hostile meeting between leaders in the Oval Office since Trump became president a second time on Jan. 20. In Feburary, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparred and at one time the U.S. president said his guest was "gambling with World War III" and being "disrespectful" to the United States.
The day had started on a calmer note and with higher hopes for dialogue.
"The trade relations between South Africa and the United States will be the focus of my working visit," wrote South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to his X account Tuesday before the meeting. "We aim to strengthen and consolidate relations between our two countries."
Steenhuisen, the agriculture minister, said via social media Tuesday that he had a "constructive meeting" with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Greer in Washington.
"Trade is essential between our two countries and we are determined to ensure that access for agricultural products remains open in a mutually beneficial way. Trade means jobs and a growing economy," Steenhuisen said.
However, so, too, is the relationship between the two nations in general, as the Trump administration has cut off aid to South Africa and publicly leveled accusations that the South African government has backed violence against the Afrikaners.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X on May 12 that Afrikaners fleeing persecution are welcome in the United States.
One week ago the first group of white South Africans arrived in the U.S. after the Trump administration's prioritization of the Afrikaner refugee resettlement program. Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program on the first day of his second term.
"The South African government has treated these people terribly -- threatening to steal their private land and subjected them to vile racial discrimination," Rubio posted. "The Trump Administration is proud to offer them refuge in our great country."
White South Africans maintain control of a majority of the land and much of the country's wealth after apartheid ended in 1994.
"The false narratives about a genocide are not a reflection of who we are as a nation," Ramaphosa posted Friday on X, "and during our working visit to the U.S. we will be advancing a proudly South African message."
