The Trump administration has informed South Africa that it will end funding through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), arguing that the country has failed to address a series of concerns raised by Washington, including the treatment and protection of white South Africans.
According to information obtained by the Daily Caller, the State Department outlined several areas in which it believes the South African government has fallen short. Among them were concerns that South Africa has not provided exemptions or alternatives for American companies affected by Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment requirements and other race-based policies.
The administration also criticized South African officials for failing to more frequently and unequivocally condemn race-based incitement to violence, including chants of the controversial “kill the Boer” song. Additional concerns included opposition to policies that could allow expropriation of property without what the United States considers fair compensation and due process under South Africa’s Expropriation Act of 2024.
The State Department further argued that South Africa has not designated rural crime as a priority offense or committed sufficient resources to high-crime rural communities. U.S. officials also objected to actions they believe interfere with the implementation of a refugee program operating within the framework of South African law.
A State Department spokesperson defended the decision, telling the Daily Caller that South Africa is a middle-income nation capable of financing its own health initiatives without continued American assistance.
The move reflects a broader concern repeatedly voiced by President Donald Trump regarding the safety of white South Africans. The president has publicly argued that white farmers and other members of the country’s white minority face persecution and violence.
Those concerns were prominently displayed during a May 2025 Oval Office meeting between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. During the meeting, Trump directed staff to dim the lights and play a series of videos that he said illustrated what was happening in South Africa.
The footage included clips showing political leaders from a minority party chanting slogans calling for the killing of Boers, a term referring to farmers and commonly associated with white South Africans. Trump described the videos as evidence of what he characterized as genocide in South Africa.
While the footage played, Ramaphosa largely looked ahead or toward Trump rather than watching the screen.
Trump also claimed there were roughly one thousand burial sites of white farmers in South Africa, with family members continuing to visit and pay their respects.
The tense meeting took another turn after the videos concluded. NBC News correspondent Peter Alexander asked Trump about a separate issue involving an aircraft that Qatar planned to provide to the United States.
The president sharply rebuked the reporter, accusing NBC of attempting to shift attention away from the topic that had just been discussed. Trump criticized both the network and Alexander personally, arguing that the question was unrelated to the subject at hand.
As the exchange continued, Trump defended the acceptance of the aircraft and referenced what he said was $5.1 trillion in investment from Qatar. He then ended the interaction by refusing to take additional questions from the reporter.
Later in the meeting, Trump displayed a collection of articles that aides had assembled for him. The articles, according to the president, documented murders and rapes involving white South Africans.
Holding up the reports, Trump repeatedly referenced what he described as a series of deaths, calling them examples of “horrible death.”
The administration’s decision to terminate PEPFAR funding marks a significant escalation in its criticism of South Africa and underscores the president’s continued focus on the treatment of white South Africans as a major issue in the relationship between the two countries.
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