Latest news with #AmericanThinker
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Africa's President Reveals True Feelings About Bizarre Trump Meeting
South Africa's president couldn't stop giggling about his encounter with Donald Trump. Cyril Ramaphosa said he got flashbacks to his meeting with the U.S. president when he took the stage at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium in Cape Town on Tuesday. 'When I came in, I saw the room going a bit dark. They darkened the room. And for a moment, I wondered, 'What is this? It's happening to me again,'' he said with a chuckle as the crowd burst into laughter. Trump's otherwise cordial meeting with Ramaphosa at the White House last week took a Zelensky-style turn when he played a video of what he claimed to be the burial grounds of white farmers allegedly killed by Black South Africans trying to take their land. 'At that moment, we were seated very nicely and I was beginning to get into a groove of interacting with this man, and I suddenly hear him say, 'No, dim the lights,'' Ramaphosa told the Cape Town audience, who again broke out into laughter. Trump used their meeting to confront Ramaphosa with unsubstantiated claims that South Africa's Black-led government is anti-white and perpetrating a 'white genocide' against local farmers while Elon Musk, the South African billionaire, stood on the sidelines of the Oval Office. Fact-checkers have found, however, that the footage Trump played didn't actually show the 'burial sites' of 'over a thousand' white farmers. Instead, the white crosses on display were temporarily erected as a memorial to a white farming couple shot dead on their premises in 2020. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt acknowledged that 'the video shows crosses that represent the dead bodies of people who were racially persecuted by their government,' but glossed over questions that pointed out Trump claimed they were 'burial sites.' The interaction with Ramaphosa was reminiscent of a similarly tense meeting Trump had with Volodymyr Zelensky in February, when he dressed down the Ukrainian president in front of the cameras. 'I must say, a number of people have said, 'This was an ambush. This was an ambush,'' Ramaphosa said Tuesday. 'And I was bemused. I was saying, 'What's happening?'' The Sunday Times, a prominent South African newspaper, blasted Trump for 'blindsiding' Ramaphosa with claims of a 'white genocide.' During the Oval Office meeting, Trump also held up a printout of an American Thinker article as proof that white farmers are 'being buried' in South Africa. But the image that accompanied the article—showing humanitarian workers lifting body bags—was, in fact, taken in Congo. American Thinker managing editor Andrea Widburg, who authored the post Trump cited, told Reuters that the president 'misidentified the image.' The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Russia Today
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Trump backs South Africa ‘white genocide' claims with Congo footage
A screengrab from a video that US President Donald Trump presented as evidence of white farmers being killed in South Africa originated from footage of unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Reuters reported on Friday. Trump showed the image during a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, holding up a printout of an article that featured a screengrab from the footage, which Reuters said it originally published on February 3. According to the news agency, the video shows humanitarian workers handling body bags in Goma, one of the main cities in eastern Congo captured by M23 rebels amid intense fighting in late January. The screengrab appeared in a blog post by conservative outlet American Thinker, which discussed conflicts in both South Africa and the DRC, but did not caption the image. 'These are all white farmers that are being buried,' Trump said. 'You have hundreds of people, thousands of people trying to come into our country because they feel they're going to be killed and their land is going to be confiscated. And you do have laws that were passed that give you the right to confiscate land,' he claimed. Andrea Widburg, the managing editor at American Thinker and author of the post, told Reuters that Trump 'misidentified the image.' She said the article raised concerns about 'increasing pressure placed on white South Africans.' Ramaphosa's visit to Washington was aimed at repairing diplomatic ties amid heightened tensions with the US over land policy, foreign affairs, and Trump's accusations of discrimination against the white minority. During the meeting, the US president played a five-minute montage that included clips of South African political figures and images he claimed show graves of white farmers. Ramaphosa rejected the claims, stating that South Africa is a multi-party democracy and that crime affects all communities. 'There's no genocide in South Africa. That is a fact that's borne out of a lot of evidence,' he said, adding that those shown in the video were not part of his government.
Egypt Independent
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Trump's image of dead ‘white farmers' came from Congo, not South Africa
Reuters — US President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he US President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented on Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans. 'These are all white farmers that are being buried,' said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. In fact, the video, published by Reuters on February 3 and subsequently verified by the news agency's fact check team, showed humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Congolese city of Goma. The image was pulled from Reuters footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The blog post showed to Ramaphosa by Trump during the White House meeting was published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, about conflict and racial tensions in South Africa and Congo. The post did not caption the image but identified it as a 'YouTube screen grab' with a link to a video news report about Congo on YouTube, which credited Reuters. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Andrea Widburg, managing editor at American Thinker and the author of the post in question, wrote in reply to a Reuters query that Trump had 'misidentified the image.' She added, however, that the post, which referred to what it called Ramaphosa's 'dysfunctional, race-obsessed Marxist government', had 'pointed out the increasing pressure placed on white South Africans.' The footage from which the picture was taken shows a mass burial following an M23 assault on Goma, filmed by Reuters video journalist Djaffar Al Katanty. 'That day, it was extremely difficult for journalists to get in… I had to negotiate directly with M23 and coordinate with the ICRC to be allowed to film,' Al Katanty said. 'Only Reuters has video.' Al Katanty said seeing Trump holding the article with the screengrab of his video came as a shock. 'In view of all the world, President Trump used my image, used what I filmed in DRC to try to convince President Ramaphosa that in his country, white people are being killed by Black people,' Al Katanty said. Ramaphosa visited Washington this week to try to mend ties with the United States after persistent criticism from Trump in recent months over South Africa's land laws, foreign policy, and alleged bad treatment of its white minority, which South Africa denies. Trump interrupted the televised meeting with Ramaphosa to play a video, which he said showed evidence of genocide of white farmers in South Africa. This conspiracy theory, which has circulated in far-right chat rooms for years, is based on false claims. Trump then proceeded to flip through printed copies of articles that he said detailed murders of white South Africans, saying 'death, death, death, horrible death.'
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Pix Trump showed to Ramaphosa of dead white farmers came from Congo, not SA'
JOHANNESBURG: US President Donald Trump showed a screenshot of Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented on Wednesday as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans. "These are all white farmers that are being buried," said Trump, holding up a print-out of an article accompanied by the picture during a contentious Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The video, published on Feb 3 and subsequently verified by Reuters' fact check team, showed workers lifting body bags in Congo's Goma. The image was pulled from Reuters footage shot following deadly battles with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The blog post showed by Trump was published by American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, about conflict in South Africa and Congo. The post did not caption the image but identified it as a "YouTube screen grab" with a link to a video news report about Congo on YouTube, which credited Reuters. Andrea Widburg, managing editor at American Thinker and author of the post, said Trump had "misidentified the image".
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
How Trump misrepresented images to support claims of "White genocide" in South Africa, including Congo video
In his Oval Office meeting Wednesday with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, President Trump made allegations of persecution of White farmers in South Africa, which he used to justify granting refugee status to a group of Afrikaners earlier this month. Ramaphosa has denied there is a genocide, and some Afrikaners say Mr. Trump is being lied to about a "White genocide" in the country. In the last three months of 2024, 12 people were murdered on farms in South Africa, according to South African police. One was a White farmer, while the others were Black laborers or security workers, police said. Some estimates say in recent years there have been about 50 farm murders a year, but those do not specify race. The country had nearly 27,000 total murders last year, according to police data. Mr. Trump played videos and held up articles during the White House meeting this week to support his unsubstantiated claims. But much of what he showed was being misrepresented. Here are three examples: Reuters footage of bodies in the Democratic Republic of Congo Mr. Trump held up a printed article from "American Thinker," a conservative online magazine, that included a screenshot, credited to Reuters, that the president said showed "all White farmers that are being buried." President Trump holds up a printed article from "American Thinker" while accusing South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa of state-sanctioned violence against White farmers in South Africa during a press availability in the Oval Office at the White House on May 21, the video the screenshot was taken from was of humanitarian workers lifting body bags in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reuters said. The footage was taken in February after deadly battles with a Rwanda-backed Congolese rebel group in the city of Goma. The "American Thinker" article was about both the Congo and South Africa, but the image does not show South Africa. Andrea Widburg, managing editor at "American Thinker" and the author of the post, told Reuters that Mr. Trump had "misidentified the image." Line of white crosses Mr. Trump claimed images of white crosses seen in the video played during his meeting with Ramaphosa showed burial sites of White farmers. However, the crosses were symbolic, part of a protest in 2020 after the killing of a White farming couple, according to local media coverage. A participant said they represented all farm murders, not solely White farmers, over the years. The demonstration, held near Normandien, South Africa, was calling on the government to take more action against farm killings. Ramaphosa acknowledged a problem of crime in his country. "There is criminality in our country," he said to Mr. Trump. "People who do get killed unfortunately through criminal activity, are not only White people. Majority of them are Black people." Rally footage of fringe politician The video Mr. Trump presented included clips of Julius Malema, the leader of a far-left South African political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters. He is heard singing an anti-apartheid song that includes the lyric, "kill the Boer," referring to White farmers, in multiple clips from recent years. Malema was kicked out of Ramaphosa's governing party, African National Congress, 13 years ago, and Ramaphosa said the EFF is a "small minority party" that does not represent the government. The ANC also distanced itself from the song more than a decade ago. In a statement to Reuters after the meeting between Mr. Trump and Ramaphosa, the EFF said the song "expresses the desire to destroy the system of white minority control over the resources of South Africa." Three South African courts have ruled against attempts to have it designated as hate speech, saying it is a historical liberation chant, not a literal incitement to violence, Reuters reported. Nicole Brown Chau Nicole Brown Chau is a deputy managing editor for She writes and edits national news, health stories, explainers and more. , and contributed to this report.
