President Donald Trump on Wednesday presented a stack of printed articles at the White House, claiming they proved a “genocide” against white South Africans.
During a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump waved the papers dramatically, describing them as fresh evidence of mass killings.
“This is death, people dying, horrible death,” he said, flipping through pages he insisted had been published “in the last few days.”
Among the documents was a blog post from February featuring a photograph taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not South Africa.
The article, from the fringe website American Thinker, depicted Red Cross workers handling body bags after a mass prison break in Goma.
“This is all white farmers being buried,” Trump claimed, pointing at the image, which actually shows the aftermath of women being raped and burned alive in Congo.
The original video, published by Indian news outlet WION using Reuters footage, clearly identifies the location and context as unrelated to South Africa.
Trump’s repeated claims of a white farmer “genocide” in South Africa have been widely discredited by experts and dismissed by the South African government.
Official police data shows that around 75 people are murdered daily in South Africa, most of them young black men in urban areas.
Ramaphosa appeared visibly uncomfortable during the exchange but did not respond directly to Trump’s remarks.
Critics condemned the display as inflammatory and misleading, accusing the president of fuelling racial tension with false information.
Analysts warn that such distortions undermine diplomatic relations and distract from South Africa’s real social challenges.