Trump’s Bid To Bar South Africa From 2026 G20 Summit Sparks Backlash From US Analyst

Donald Trump’s call to exclude South Africa from next year’s G20 summit in Miami has been dismissed as a political “tantrum” by a leading US foreign policy analyst.

Mitchell Plitnick, President of ReThinking Foreign Policy, weighed in after the US President took aim at Cyril Ramaphosa in a late-night social media post on Wednesday.

Trump lashed out over Ramaphosa’s decision not to hand over the G20 presidency to a diplomat during Sunday’s closing ceremony, insisting South Africa would not be welcome at the 2026 gathering.

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Plitnick did not hold back in his assessment. “It’s embarrassing for anyone who’s an American, across the political divide,” he said.

While relations between Pretoria and Washington have steadily deteriorated this year—despite Ramaphosa leading a high-profile delegation to the US in May—the latest clash suggests tensions are deepening.

Trump notably skipped last week’s G20 summit in Johannesburg and did not even dispatch a low-level representative.

Rising Diplomatic Tensions Between US and South Africa

The US is set to host the next G20 summit in Florida, where Trump has now publicly signalled that Ramaphosa would not be welcome. However, Plitnick cautioned against taking the President’s rhetoric at face value.

“I do not believe he is actually going to withhold visas from the South African delegation,” he said, though he noted that the hostility Trump has shown towards South Africa “since his first term” is “intensifying.”

Despite the fiery statements, Plitnick believes Trump’s tirade is unlikely to resonate widely across the US political landscape.

“Even among Trump’s own constituents, it’s really not a big issue for anybody here,” he added.

Political Reaction to Trump’s G20 Threat

The Democratic Alliance also reacted to Trump’s post, calling the move out of step with global diplomatic norms.

Ryan Smith, the party’s international relations spokesperson, said the US does not have the authority to shut out a G20 member state.

“Regrettably, this is the stance Washington has taken, but it’s very much in line with the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy,” Smith said.

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