{"id":297272,"date":"2025-11-21T10:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/297272\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T10:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:04:08","slug":"g20-summit-in-south-africa-overshadowed-by-eleventh-hour-dispute-over-u-s-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/297272\/","title":{"rendered":"G20 summit in South Africa overshadowed by eleventh-hour dispute over U.S. participation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Banners of various G20 leaders are displayed along a Johannesburg freeway, in South Africa, on Thursday.Themba Hadebe\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Another bitter clash between the Trump administration and South Africa<\/a> is threatening to overshadow the G20 summit this weekend, with Pretoria refusing to accept a U.S. request to send a delegation to the closing session.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> had earlier vowed that his administration would boycott the G20 summit in Johannesburg. In response, South Africa said it would simply leave an empty chair at the G20 round table for the entire weekend, even at a planned handover ceremony where the G20 presidency was to be transferred to the United States, host of next year\u2019s summit.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, less than two days before the summit opens, the U.S. embassy in Pretoria asked for permission to send a delegation of eight diplomats to the G20\u2019s closing session to accept the handover.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, a spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa flatly rejected the idea. \u201cThe President will not hand over to a charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires,\u201d spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a social media post late on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

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In a speech to the Social G20, a pre-summit conference of civil society and other groups, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was loudly applauded when he said there should be ‘no bullying of one nation by another nation.’EMMANUEL CROSET\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has been verbally attacking South Africa since the beginning of his term, terminating all U.S. aid to the country and falsely claiming that its government was stealing land from white farmers and committing \u201cgenocide\u201d against the white minority.<\/p>\n

Despite the attacks, South Africa still wanted Mr. Trump to attend the G20 summit, the first to be held on African soil. Two months ago, Mr. Trump announced that Vice-President JD Vance would participate at the summit \u2013 but then in early November he cancelled that plan and pledged that no U.S. officials would attend.<\/p>\n

The latest U.S. request to send a diplomatic delegation is a reversal of the U.S. boycott, according to Mr. Ramaphosa\u2019s interpretation. At a press conference, he laughed as he disclosed the U.S. embassy\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have received notice from the United States \u2013 a notice which we are still in discussions with them over \u2013 about a change of mind about participating in one form or another in the summit,\u201d Mr. Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis comes really at a late hour before the summit begins. Therefore we need to engage in those discussions to see how practical it is and what it finally means. We see this as a positive sign, very positive, because boycott politics never work.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa unfazed by Trump\u2019s latest G20 boycott plan<\/a><\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, at a briefing later, complained that Mr. Ramaphosa was \u201crunning his mouth a little bit\u201d against Mr. Trump. \u201cThat language is not appreciated by the President or his team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She confirmed that the Trump administration wants a U.S. embassy representative to attend the handover at the summit\u2019s closing session. The diplomat will not participate in any official talks, she said.<\/p>\n

South Africa says it cannot allow a diplomat to join the closing session, because the summit is for state leaders, not low-level officials. It considers the U.S. request to be \u201cinsulting,\u201d according to local media outlets, quoting a South African official.<\/p>\n

In its three-page diplomatic note to South Africa, the U.S. embassy gave a detailed list of the logistical assistance that it wants for its diplomatic delegation, including a convoy of motorcycles and police cars to escort the U.S. motorcade, along with security support for the entirety of the delegation\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n

John Kirton, director of the G20 Research Group, a global network of researchers with its headquarters at the University of Toronto, said South Africa is correct to insist on a handover from one leader to another. Without a proper handover, the legitimacy of next year\u2019s summit in Miami could be in doubt, he said.<\/p>\n

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Banners of portraits of world leaders of G20 countries are displayed on pillars of an highway overpass in Johannesburg.MARCO LONGARI\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Ramaphosa is right to try to leverage this U.S. overture into a more serious involvement and contribution to the Johannesburg Summit, because he realizes that the G20 needs the United States and the United States needs the G20,\u201d Mr. Kirton told The Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n

The last-minute dispute is sad, he said. \u201cNever before has there been such disruptive uncertainty so late before a G20 summit begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the U.S. boycott and other geopolitical tensions, it is still unclear whether the G20 leaders will be able to produce a formal summit declaration with agreements on action on global issues. If there is no consensus on a declaration, there would only be a \u201cchair\u2019s statement\u201d in which Mr. Ramaphosa would summarize the meetings, without any firm commitments.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration says it opposes the issuing of any declaration without its agreement. But officials from all G20 countries, except the U.S., were continuing to negotiate the text of a formal declaration this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe talks are going extremely well,\u201d Mr. Ramaphosa said on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m confident we are moving towards a declaration. They are now just dotting the I\u2019s and crossing the T\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A man wears a G20-themed hat as he queues to enter the venue of a South Africa\u2013EU leaders meeting.Yves Herman\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The United States, meanwhile, is complaining that South Africa\u2019s G20 is too inclusive, with 17 guest countries and 27 international organizations joining the core group. \u201cThe G20 has become basically the G100 this past year,\u201d Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ramaphosa gave a mocking retort. \u201cIt is true, we are having a G-million, because we are about inclusiveness, bringing people together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a speech to the Social G20, a pre-summit conference of civil society and other groups, he was loudly applauded when he said there should be \u201cno bullying of one nation by another nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the U.S. is the only country boycotting the talks, several others \u2013 including China, Russia, Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia \u2013 are sending senior political leaders instead of their heads of state.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who arrives in Johannesburg on Friday night, is among those attending. Mr. Carney is expected to focus on issues such as critical minerals, energy security and climate change at the summit.<\/p>\n

South Africa, as G20 leader, is pushing for progress on global inequality and debt distress \u2013 two issues that feature prominently in an early draft of the G20 declaration that has been circulating in recent weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Banners of various G20 leaders are displayed along a Johannesburg freeway, in South…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,43,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,41,39,42,40,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-297272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}