South Africa claims US has had ‘change of mind’ on G20 boycott

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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has claimed the US has had “a change of mind” over its boycott of the country’s G20 summit this weekend, as Donald Trump’s administration said it would send a diplomat to the closing session.

US President Trump had previously said that no US officials would take part in the summit, which starts on Saturday, in what would have been the first-ever boycott of the multilateral event by any member state.

“We have received notice from the United States, a notice that we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the summit,” Ramaphosa told reporters.

“This comes really at the late hour before the summit begins, and so therefore we do need to engage . . . to see how practical it is and finally what it means,” he added. “In a way, we see this as a positive sign, very positive because, as I have often said, boycott politics never works.”

A White House official said that any suggestion the US would take part in the event was “fake news”.

“The chargé d’affaires in Pretoria will attend the handover ceremony as a formality, but the United States is not joining G20 discussions,” the official said.

Trump had previously claimed the boycott — the first by any country in the G20’s history — was justified because white Afrikaners were being “slaughtered” in South Africa, a false claim that he has made repeatedly since returning to the White House.

Washington had also warned Ramaphosa’s administration not to attempt the publication of any joint statement, given the US absence.

At the end of the summit, the host nation symbolically hands over the G20 to the next host, which next year will be the US. Trump has announced that the 2026 G20 summit will take place in Miami, Florida.

“I don’t want to hand over to an empty chair, but the empty chair will be there,” Ramaphosa said last week.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the US suggestion for the chargé d’affaires to take part, but also said that talks with Washington were ongoing about more participation than “just diplomatic acceptance”.

“It is pleasing to hear that there is a change of approach [from the US] and we are still discussing how that will manifest,” Ramaphosa said. “We are still digesting it.”

“The United States is a member of the G20, an original member . . . they have the right to be here,” Ramaphosa added. “They have a seat at the roundtable.”

A senior South African presidential adviser said the view among officials was “we will proceed — the world has to move ahead” regardless of the US’s final decision.

The US move to send a diplomat to the G20 handover ceremony falls far short of full participation in the summit. The US traditionally sends its president to the leaders’ summit and JD Vance, the vice-president, was expected to attend in Trump’s place before the US announced its boycott.