Julius Malema hits back at Donald Trump
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has hit back after becoming an unexpected centerpiece of discussion during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. During what was meant to be a diplomatic session focused on trade and foreign relations, Trump took a sharp detour, requesting that the lights be dimmed so a series of video clips featuring Malema could be played. The footage included scenes of the EFF leader chanting the liberation-era song "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer," along with fiery statements on land expropriation and white privilege. The moment reportedly left Ramaphosa visibly uneasy, prompting him to defer questions about farm murders to Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen. Business tycoon Johann Rupert, who was also present, weighed in, saying, "I have been a target of this man for ten years," referring to Malema. The exchange quickly dominated social media, with multiple trending topics on X (formerly Twitter) revolving around the Oval Office incident. Responding to the attention, Malema dismissed the entire episode as manufactured drama, writing on X: “A group of older men gather in Washington to gossip about me. No significant amount of intelligence evidence has been produced about white genocide.”
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Trump has long amplified the narrative of white South Africans being targeted, and his latest Oval Office stunt was a continuation of that stance. The clips shown were reportedly compiled by Trump himself, not by AfriForum, though the group has supported similar claims in the past. AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel stated, “I think President Trump himself made a compilation of all these videos, which was, of course, not our compilation.” Kriel expressed concern over South African court rulings on the "Kill the Boer" chant, claiming the legal system was failing to protect farmers. “We have a court system not protecting farmers that are being murdered, and the president now tries to say this is the other party. The worst thing is that the South African president refused to condemn this.” Still, Kriel said he was relieved the meeting didn’t collapse entirely and welcomed more dialogue, adding, “From AfriForum’s side, we also want solutions. That is why we were willing to say we will discuss this with the ANC.” Democratic Alliance MP Emma Powell described the Oval Office meeting as “chaotic” and applauded DA leader John Steenhuisen for calling out what she labelled as the “radical, racist, and destructive agendas” of Malema and the MK party. She added, “The sentiment of ‘shoot the Boer, kill the Boer’ cannot be tolerated. It is completely antithetical to our constitution. We must reject it.” Powell also emphasized the need to stabilize trade relations, especially with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) hanging in the balance. “AGOA is all but dead in the water. I think it’s critically important that President Trump reconsiders the trade tariffs, especially in the automotive sector.” Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber echoed support for international cooperation, stating, “I strongly support the comments by President Ramaphosa’s delegation, calling for technological investment to support our efforts to digitally transform civic services and immigration.”