'Wish I had a plane to give you': South African President's 'Qatar gift' jibe at Trump during tense meeting

US President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with explosive false claims of white genocide and land seizures during a tense White House meeting. The confrontation with Ramaphosa mirrored an earlier incident this year, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entered what was supposed to be a routine alliance-building meeting—only for it to devolve into a shouting match with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, prompting him to walk out.

Ramaphosa had hoped to use Wednesday's meeting to reset his country's relationship with the US, after Trump canceled much-needed aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country's ambassador and criticized its genocide court case against Israel.

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'Can't give you a plane'

The meeting's focus on South Africa was briefly interrupted when Trump was asked about the Pentagon formally accepting a donated Boeing 747 from Qatar, which the president plans to use as Air Force One. Trump lashed out at the reporter, saying he was merely trying to distract from the issues involving white farmers.

Ramaphosa found humor in the moment. "I wish I had a plane to give you," he said. "I wish you did," Trump responded. "I would take it."


Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar that President Donald Trump will use once the Pentagon upgrades it to include “proper security measures and functional-mission requirements,” according to a Defense Department spokesperson.

“The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States.”

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Trump vs Ramaphosa in Oval Office

The President requested the lights at the Oval Office be turned down and then a video played on a television. It showed white crosses, which Trump asserted were the graves of white people, and opposition leaders making incendiary speeches. Trump suggested one of them, Julius Malema, should be arrested.

Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation were left speechless at footage that Trump believed supported his claims that Ramaphosa’s government was turning a blind eye to violence against white Afrikaners. When Trump identified images of crosses along a road as the marked graves of murdered white farmers, Ramaphosa said he hadn’t seen that before and would find out where it was filmed. The video also showed South African opposition leaders calling for the death of white farmers. Ramaphosa said he condemned those remarks and his political coalition had been built to sideline those calling for violence.

The message was clear, if fantastical: South Africa, according to President Trump, was persecuting its white minority-and he had brought his guest here to confront it. “You do allow them to take land, and then when they take the land, they kill the white farmer,” Trump said. “And when they kill the white farmer, nothing happens to them.”

"We have many people that feel they're being persecuted, and they're coming to the United States," Trump said. "So we take from many ... locations, if we feel there's persecution or genocide going on," he added, referring specifically to white farmers.

"People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety. Their land is being confiscated, and in many cases, they're being killed," the president added, echoing a once-fringe conspiracy theory that has circulated in global far-right chat rooms for at least a decade with the vocal support of Trump's ally, South African-born Elon Musk, who was in the Oval Office during the meeting.

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Ramaphosa, sitting in a chair next to Trump and remaining poised, pushed back against his claims.

"If there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you, these three gentlemen would not be here," Ramaphosa said, referring to golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and billionaire Johann Rupert, all white, who were present in the room.

That did not satisfy Trump. "We have thousands of stories talking about it, and we have documentaries, we have news stories," Trump said. "It has to be responded to."

During the video presentation, President Ramaphosa remained mostly expressionless, occasionally turning his head to glance at the screen. He stated that he had not seen the footage before and expressed a desire to learn more about its origin.

Trump then produced printed articles that, he claimed, documented murders of white South Africans. As he flipped through the pages, repeating the word “death,” he eventually handed the materials to Ramaphosa.

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In response, Ramaphosa acknowledged the presence of crime in South Africa, emphasizing that most of the victims were Black. Trump interrupted him, asserting, “The farmers are not Black.”

Ramaphosa replied diplomatically, “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”

He went on to invoke Nelson Mandela’s legacy as a peacemaker, but this appeared to have little effect on Trump, whose political base includes white nationalist elements. The notion of a so-called “white genocide” in South Africa has become a talking point among far-right groups in the United States and abroad.

“Apartheid—terrible,” Trump commented. “This is sort of the opposite of apartheid.”

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The unusual and tense exchange, which took place just three months after Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly criticized Ukraine’s President Zelensky in the same Oval Office, may serve as a warning to other foreign leaders about the risks of visiting Trump. The possibility of public confrontation or embarrassment now looms larger.

Unlike Zelensky, who pushed back against Trump and eventually left early, Ramaphosa remained composed. He complimented the Oval Office’s gold-accented decor and expressed optimism about passing the G20 presidency baton next year.