President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, halting U.S. aid to South Africa over its controversial land expropriation law.
The White House declared the law unfairly targets the country’s white minority, calling it an act of discrimination against Afrikaner landowners.
“As long as South Africa supports bad actors and allows violent attacks on innocent minority farmers, the U.S. will halt assistance,” the administration stated.
The Expropriation Act, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month, grants the government power to seize land under specific conditions.
The law is intended to rectify apartheid-era injustices, when Black South Africans were forcibly removed from their land and segregated.
Trump’s executive order goes beyond withholding aid, introducing a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families in the U.S.
Elon Musk, a Trump ally and head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, has publicly condemned the law in recent posts.
The White House also cited South Africa’s role in accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice as a reason for the freeze.
Trump’s decision aligns with his broader push to limit foreign aid, promoting an “America First” strategy in international relations.