‘Look at Australia’: Trump’s stunning ‘white genocide’ ambush
Donald Trump has grilled South Africa’s president in the Oval Office, claiming South African farmers are fleeing to Australia and America to escape “white genocide.” See the video.
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US President Donald Trump confronted South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa, who is visiting Washington DC, claiming both the US and Australia were being “inundated” by people fleeing “white genocide”.
“You take a look at Australia, they’re being inundated and we’re being inundated with people that want to get out,” Trump said.
“This is a very serious situation and … if we had a real press this would be exposed.”
While Mr Trump stressed he hasn’t “made up my mind” on using the word “genocide”, he stated he wants to help “save lives.”
A video played to the South African President showed left-wing leader Julius Malema calling for the death of white South Africans.
“Revolution demands at some point there must be killing,” said Malema in the recording which also showcased the Economic Freedom Fighters leader singing, “kill the Boer, the farmer” to a crowded stadium.
In another section of the footage, Malema was also heard stating: “We are cutting the throat of whiteness!”
After speaking to billionaire buddy Elon Musk, who is originally from South Africa, Mr Trump fast-tracked refugee status for the country’s Afrikaner minority.
Mr Musk joined Mr Trump and Mr Ramaphosa for lunch and also attended the Oval Office meeting.
So far around 50 of the new migrants have arrived.
“I will say, apartheid, terrible,” Mr Trump continued.
“That was the biggest story – that was reported all the time. This is sort of the opposite of apartheid. What’s happening now is never reported.”
Mr Ramaphosa, 72, assured Mr Trump he opposed all Malema stood for.
“What you saw, the speeches that were being made, one that is not government policy,” Mr Ramaphosa said.
“Our government policy is completely, completely against what (Malema) was saying.”
“Why wouldn’t you arrest that man?” Mr Trump countered.
“That was a stadium that holds 100,000 people, and I hardly saw an empty seat.”
After the meeting, Mr Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told South African media he believed the bizarre ambush was “an orchestrated show for the cameras” and the “real business” took place behind closed doors.
“President Ramaphosa came here not for a TV show, he came here to discuss with President Trump in earnest how we can reset the strategic relationship between South Africa and the US,” Mr Magwenya said.
Mr Ramaphosa attempted to downplay the incident when speaking to media after the media.
“Much as he flighted the video and all those press clippings, and in the end, I mean, I do believe that that is there’s doubt and disbelief in his head about all this,” Mr Ramaphosa said. “I have agreed that we’re going to meet again, and we will meet at the G20 by meeting again.”
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US ACCEPTS GIFTED JET FROM QATAR
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted the Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to President Donald Trump for use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
Qatar’s offer of the jet – which is valued at A$620 million – has raised huge constitutional and ethical questions, as well as security concerns about using an aircraft donated by a foreign power for use as the ultra-sensitive presidential plane.
“The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“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,” Parnell said, referring questions to the US Air Force.
The US Constitution prohibits government officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince or foreign State,” in a section known as the Emoluments Clause.
But Trump has denied there are any ethical issues involved with accepting the plane, saying it would be “stupid” for the US government not to take the aircraft.
“It’s a great gesture,” the 78-year-old billionaire told reporters at the White House last week when asked if the oil-rich Gulf state would expect anything in exchange.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person (and) say ‘no we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
The leader of the Democratic minority in the US Senate introduced legislation earlier this week that would block Trump from using the aircraft.
Chuck Schumer’s Presidential Airlift Security Act would prohibit the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds to retrofit any plane previously owned by a foreign government for use as the presidential plane.
“Donald Trump has shown time and again he will sell out the American people and the presidency if it means filling his own pockets,” Schumer said in a statement.
“Not only would it take billions of taxpayer dollars to even attempt to retrofit and secure this plane, but there’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure.”
‘I’VE DONE ENOUGH’: ELON MUSK BACKS AWAY FROM TRUMP
Billionaire Elon Musk has said he was pulling back from spending his fortune on politics, asserting his Tesla electric car company was doing well despite blowback over his support of US President Donald Trump.
“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Mr Musk told Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, speaking by video link from Austin, Texas.
“I think I’ve done enough.”
Mr Musk, the richest person on Earth, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Mr Trump win the 2024 presidential election, and questions were rife in Washington whether his largesse would continue.
“If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don’t currently see a reason,” he said in the often tense interview.
The comments will trigger speculation that the close relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Musk may be shifting as the Tesla tycoon steps away from his full-time role as cost-cutting chief for the US administration.
When it comes to politics, “I did what needed to be done,” Mr Musk said.
Mr Musk confirmed he has reduced his role as the unofficial head of the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, working there now just one or two days a week.
Tesla, which is the major source of Mr Musk’s wealth, has suffered significant brand damage due to his political work, particularly with Mr Trump. He has also expressed support for the far-right anti-immigration AfD party in Germany.
Since Trump took office, Tesla dealerships have become scenes of protest and vandalism in the United States and beyond.
“It’s certainly fine to object to political things, but it’s not fine to resort to violence and hanging someone in effigy and death threats,” Musk said.
TRUMP UNVEILS PLAN FOR ‘GOLDEN DOME’ MISSILE SYSTEM
US President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a “Golden Dome” missile shield system to protect his country against foreign attacks, saying it should be operational by the end of his second term.
“In the campaign I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defence shield,” Mr Trump said at the White House.
“Today I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system.”
ABC News reported that the program could cost hundreds of billions of dollars, depending on how it is set up.
US TO LIMIT ACCESS TO COVID SHOTS
The United States will limit Covid-19 boosters to people over 65 or those at risk of serious illness, while requiring vaccine makers to run fresh clinical trials before offering shots to younger and healthier individuals, officials said.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Food and Drug Administration’s Vinayak Prasad and Commissioner Martin Makary framed the policy shift as “evidence-based” and would align the United States more closely with guidance in Europe.
But it comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine sceptic, pushes to remake federal public health policy.
Kennedy previously led a non-profit that was critical of immunisation programs, and during the pandemic petitioned the FDA to revoke Covid vaccine authorisations, citing rare side effects including heart inflammation.
Prasad and Makary praised the initial Covid-19 vaccine rollout as “a major scientific, medical, and regulatory accomplishment,” but argued that the benefits of repeated boosters for low-risk individuals are uncertain.
DEFENCE ORDERS PROBE INTO ‘CATASTROPHIC’ AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL‘
Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has ordered an investigation into Joe Biden’s “catastrophic” withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Hegseth has instructed the Pentagon to launch a comprehensive review of the 2021 removal of American forces by President Biden, which followed on from existing plans by the first Trump administration.
Thirteen US service members were killed by a suicide bomber during the withdrawal and the Taliban quickly seized control of Kabul.
‘EAT THE TARIFFS’: TRUMP’S MESSAGE TO WALMART
Wall Street stocks fell early on Monday after financial ranking firm Moody’s slashed the United States’ credit rating and markets awaited further action on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cut measure.
Monday’s session was the first since Moody’s announced the downgrade, citing rising levels of US government debt and interest payment ratios “to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.4 per cent at 42,490.30.
The broadbased S&P 500 declined 0.7 per cent to 5,914.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 1.0 per cent to 19,027.87.
Among individual companies, Walmart fell 2.3 per cent after President Trump slammed the company for warning customers of price increases due to his tariffs.
Mr Trump called on the retail giant to “EAT THE TARIFFS” on social media, adding, “I’ll be watching.”
The US dollar slipped and bond yields jumped at the opening of trading, a combination that suggests sentiment is souring on the US economy and the impact of President Trump’s policies on it.
POPE LEO RECEIVES VANCE, RUBIO AFTER BEING CRITICAL OF TRUMP
Pope Leo XIV received US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican Monday, ahead of a US-led push to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The Vatican released photographs of Vance and Rubio smiling as they met with the Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8 – the first pope from the United States.
VP Vance handed Leo an invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit the White House, his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington, adding that Trump hoped the visit would happen as soon as possible.
Mr Vance’s audience with Leo lasted 45 minutes, the VP’s spokesperson said. Before becoming pope, Leo reposted on his personal X account criticism of US President Donald Mr Trump’s administration over its approach to migration and also pilloried Vance.
But VP Vance insisted that the United States was “very proud of him”, adding that “our prayers go with him as he starts this very important work”.
Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and Rubio is also a Catholic.
SUPREME COURT LIFTS BAN ON TRUMP DEPORTATIONS
The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration on Monday to end legal protections that have shielded some 350,000 Venezuelans from potential deportation.
The court granted a request by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to revoke temporary protected status (TPS) for the Venezuelans while an appeal proceeds in a lower court.
A federal judge in California put a temporary stay in March on the Trump administration’s plans to end TPS for the Venezuelan nationals.
Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency application with the conservative-majority Supreme Court asking it to stay the judge’s order.
– with AFP
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Originally published as ‘Look at Australia’: Trump’s stunning ‘white genocide’ ambush
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