What to Know About Escalating U.S.-South Africa Tensions After Trump’s White House Meeting With Ramaphosa

After months of escalating tensions between the U.S. and South Africa, President Donald Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday. Prior to the meeting, Ramaphosa expressed hopes of reaching a trade deal with the U.S., but the Oval Office sit-down proved to be a tense affair.

Trump showed a video and printed news articles of what he said was evidence of the persecution of white South Africans. Ramaphosa vehemently denied allegations of a "white genocide," as he has done before. A reporter in the Oval Office asked what it would take for Trump "to be convinced that there's no white genocide” in South Africa.