U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend next week’s G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Durban, South Africa, sources told Reuters on Tuesday—marking the second time this year he has opted out of a key G20 gathering in the host country.
Instead, Acting Undersecretary for International Affairs Michael Kaplan will represent the Treasury Department at the July 17–18 meeting, a department official confirmed.
Bessent also skipped the G20’s February finance session in Cape Town, choosing to attend President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in Washington. Several other top officials—from China, Japan, India, Canada, and the EU—also missed that summit, which focused on global poverty and debt sustainability.
The decision comes against a backdrop of strained U.S.–South Africa relations. In February, Bessent’s absence followed threats from Trump to suspend aid to South Africa over alleged land expropriation targeting white farmers—claims widely disputed by local and international observers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also bypassed a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa that same month.
In May, Trump declined to confirm whether he would attend the G20 leaders’ summit set for November in South Africa. His White House meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in April devolved into confrontation after Trump raised discredited allegations of “white genocide.”
Tensions escalated further on Monday when Trump sent a letter to Ramaphosa notifying him that South African imports will face a 30% tariff beginning next month—unless Pretoria lowers its trade barriers. South Africa is one of over a dozen countries facing the new U.S. trade penalty.