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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Why Trump’s allegations that white people are being persecuted in South Africa have been denied

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez) President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has expanded the number of refugee places available for white South Africans, saying there have been “recent increases in the incitement of racially motivated violence” against them by their Black-led government and other political parties.

It’s not clear what incitement Trump was referring to when his administration made the announcement Tuesday of 10,000 additional places for white South Africans in the refugee program this year to raise it to 17,500.

It’s Trump’s latest contention that minority white Afrikaners are being persecuted, which the South African government denies.

Here’s a look at what Trump says is happening to white people in South Africa to justify their resettlement and why his position that they are being persecuted is condemned as baseless:

Attacks on farmers