Trump back on home turf for Ramaphosa meetingpublished at 16:22 British Summer Time
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Today’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa is Trump’s first encounter with a foreign leader since returning from the Middle East – on the familiar home turf of the Oval Office.
In previous meetings at the White House, Trump has sought to dominate similar encounters, which can often become awkward.
At times, the visitors – such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer – have been put into the difficult situation of having to correct Trump on points of disagreement, a delicate balancing act when meeting a president who does not take dissent lightly.
This Ramaphosa visit is particularly tricky because of the deteriorating relationship between the US and South Africa.
Aside from the recent arrival to the US of Afrikaners who Trump says are victims of a genocide – a term which Ramaphosa is sure to challenge – there’s also been a deterioration in diplomatic ties.
In March, South Africa’s ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was ordered to leave the country, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling him a “race-baiting politician who hates America”.
Rasool later told the BBC it was “self-evident” that there was racism within the Trump administration.
For Ramaphosa, a best-case scenario would be that he navigates these issues with enough skill to ease tensions – at least temporarily.
A worst-case scenario, he’ll know, is a public spat like the one we saw with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky in February.
