Donald Trump has said the US will not attend the G20 summit in South Africa over widely discredited claims that white people are being persecuted in the country.
The US president said it was a total disgrace that South Africa is hosting the meeting, where leaders from the world's largest economies will gather in Johannesburg later this month.
South Africa's foreign ministry described the decision by the White House as regrettable.
None of South Africa's political parties - including those that represent Afrikaners and the white community in general - have claimed that there is a genocide in South Africa.
Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social: It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. He added, Afrikaners (people who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.
He reiterated that No US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly accused South Africa of discriminating against its white minority, including in May when he confronted his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. South Africa's government said the claims of a white genocide is widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence.
The G20 summit was established to promote international cooperation and includes some of the world's largest economies, aiming to address global economic issues.
