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'Consistently unaligned with US policy': Rubio says Trump will skip G20 Summit in South Africa
US President Donald Trump will not attend the forthcoming G20 meeting to be held in South Africa, State Secretary Marco Rubio has announced, saying that the country has been 'consistently unaligned' with US policy.
Rubio said, 'We chose not to participate in this year's G-20, hosted by South Africa, either at the foreign ministers level or the presidents level. They clearly, on the global stage and in multiple multinational organisations, have consistently been a vote against America's interests time and again.'
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However, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magweny,a has said that Washington has been participating in all G20-related activities, adding that the country has not received an official communication from the US about Trump's non-participation in the event later this year.
'It's still a long time between now and November, and a lot can still happen,' he said.
'Out of control'
Meanwhile, when asked about his appearance at the G20 Summit, Trump said, 'South Africa's out of control and it's been out of control for a long time. I'm not sure, I'm really not sure.'
US and South Africa have been at a crossroads for quite some time.
Rubio, who did not attend the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting in February, referenced South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel, one of the United States' closest allies, of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump has also accused Ramaphosa of treating white South Africans 'terribly' and said that white farmers in the country are facing a 'genocide'.
'It's a terrible situation taking place,' the president said. 'So we've essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here.'
Ramaphosa to meet Trump
At the same time, the US president will host Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday as Pretoria seeks to 'reset' relations with Washington.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, the South African government is expected to propose an exemption to local Black-ownership laws for Pretoria-born billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, allowing his Starlink internet service to operate in the country.
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