US wipes South Africa’s G-20 site clean for Trump summit
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A picture of US President Donald Trump on the G-20 website next to a banner that says "The Best Is Yet to Come”.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM G20.ORG
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Dec 1 launched the US presidency of the Group of 20 (G-20) by wiping clean the website of outgoing host South Africa, which he is not inviting to 2026’s summit.
The G-20 website now simply has a picture of Mr Trump in black and white that says “Miami 2026“ and “The Best Is Yet to Come,” the title of the song popularised by Frank Sinatra.
Mr Trump refused all US attendance at November’s G-20 summit in Johannesburg
Mr Trump has also said that South Africa will not be welcome at the summit to take place at the Doral golf resort he owned in Miami, Florida. This will be the first time a member has been excluded in the two-decade history of the bloc, which represents the vast majority of the global economy.
The Trump administration also rejected the agenda of the South African presidency of the G-20, which had included a “just energy transition” and debt sustainability.
The State Department said that Mr Trump will “return the G-20 to focusing on its core mission of driving economic growth and prosperity to produce results.”
“We will prioritise three core themes: unleashing economic prosperity by limiting regulatory burdens, unlocking affordable and secure energy supply chains and pioneering new technologies and innovations,” it said in a statement.
Mr Trump is an outspoken sceptic of the scientific consensus on climate change and has championed fossil fuel companies.
He has repeated online far-right allegations that South Africa is carrying out a genocide against the white Afrikaner community.
South Africa’s government denies any systemic campaign against the minority group in the country, which has an overall high level of violent crime. AFP
