The US president has accused Pretoria of “fueling” violence against “racially disfavored landowners”

US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order directing government agencies to prioritize refugee assistance to white South Africans, including through resettlement programs. The move was taken after the nation passed a land expropriation law to address racial disparities in land ownership.

In his order published on Friday, Trump accused Pretoria of “shocking disregard of its citizens’ rights” and claimed that the newly adopted legislation allows the government to confiscate ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.

Afrikaners are descendants of European colonists, mostly from the Netherlands, who arrived in what would become modern South Africa in the 17th century. When the continent’s most advanced economy extended voting rights to all adults in 1994 and ended decades of apartheid, white farmers still owned the majority of land in the country. Pretoria has set a target of transferring 30% of farmland to black farmers by 2030. 

According to Trump’s order, the South African government’s policies were supposedly aimed at depriving the white minority of equal employment, education, and business opportunities while fueling violence against “racially disfavored landowners.”

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The presidential decree orders a halt to any aid or assistance to South Africa as long as its “unjust and immoral practices” persist and demands that the relevant departments and officials, including the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security “prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa.”

The document also criticizes Pretoria for supposedly “undermining United States foreign policy,” thus posing a national security threat to Washington, its interests, and its allies. The list of “aggressive positions” taken by South Africa includes accusing Israel of genocide in the International Court of Justice and developing ties with Iran, including “commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

The measures introduced by the executive order are to stay in place for as long as South Africa continues “practices that harm” the US, the document said. Washington and Pretoria have already recently clashed over the land ownership law.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had earlier announced his decision to skip a G20 meeting in South Africa later this month, accusing Pretoria of “doing very bad things.” Elon Musk, who left South Africa to become a billionaire in the United States and has become a top Trump advisor, has also branded the legislation “racist.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hit back by saying that his nation would “not be bullied.” He also stated that the world had been witnessing the rise of “nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests” but did not mention the US by name.