Washington — US President Donald Trump has confirmed he will not attend the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, citing what he described as “very bad policies” in the host country. Instead, Trump plans to dispatch a lower-level delegation, an unprecedented move that critics say reflects deepening American disengagement from the Global South and a growing vacuum of US leadership as the BRICS alliance continues its ascent.
The summit, scheduled for November 22–23 in Johannesburg, was expected to be a pivotal event in the wake of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the ongoing Genocide in Gaza, and heightened BRICS coordination with partners including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and China. Trump’s snub comes as no surprise to Washington insiders, following months of racially charged rhetoric and a widely condemned Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
During that May 2025 meeting, President Trump confronted Ramaphosa with unverified videos and documents accusing the South African government of orchestrating a “genocide” against white farmers. Human rights organizations and UN bodies have dismissed the allegation as a far-right conspiracy theory lacking any credible evidence. Ramaphosa, reportedly blindsided, rejected the accusations and emphasized South Africa’s commitment to equitable land reform in the post-apartheid era.
“The narrative is false, colonial in tone, and offensive to our democratic institutions,” said Ramaphosa during a press briefing after the meeting.
In the weeks that followed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio boycotted a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Pretoria. Subsequently, the US National Security Council ordered all federal agencies to halt preparations for the G20 summit, effectively disengaging from a forum that has become increasingly aligned with BRICS’ multipolar vision.
Political analysts warn that this retreat will only strengthen the BRICS coalition, which includes Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, and is rapidly gaining influence in global energy markets, financial systems, and peace negotiations from the Middle East to Latin America. The summit was expected to highlight deeper BRICS coordination on de-dollarization and resistance to Western economic coercion.
“Trump’s decision is not strategic, it’s performative,” said Dr. Naledi Mahambehlala, a senior fellow at the African Institute for Global Dialogue. “The US is handing over soft power to BRICS on a silver platter. This is what the end of Western unipolarity looks like.”
The timing is also significant. With the Ukraine conflict still unresolved and BRICS states increasingly united in opposition to NATO expansion and Western double standards, Trump’s absence will not go unnoticed. As Russia strengthens its military and diplomatic ties across Africa, and as Iran builds its presence in BRICS-related forums, Washington’s credibility continues to erode.
The Gaza Genocide and the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel have also triggered shifts in global alignments, with South Africa and other BRICS-aligned states accusing the US and Israel of war crimes while calling for a new international order rooted in sovereignty, justice, and multipolarity.
According to Fox News, President Trump confirmed aboard Air Force One that he may send a representative in his place, stating, “I’ve had a lot of problems with South Africa. They have very bad policies.”
