South African President running his mouth…: White House issues strong statement over US boycott of G20, says, ‘Trump will…’

The US will attend only the closing ceremony of this weekend’s G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, but will not participate in any deliberations, the US confirmed in a statement late on Thursday. South Africa will hand over the annual Presidency of the G20 to the US on Sunday, and had indicated that it would do so ceremonially to an empty chair after repeated threats by US President Doland Trump that there would be no representation from the US.

Why is the U.S. boycotting the summit?

The White House criticized South Africa’s president on Thursday for “running his mouth” regarding the United States’ boycott of this weekend’s Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg in a separate diplomatic spat between the U.S. and another country that President Doland Trump has been particularly critical of.
How did South African President Ramaphosa react?

South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa, in comments to reporters in Johannesburg, said the U.S. had communicated it was “changing its mind” over the boycott of the G20 leaders summit at the “11th hour” and wanted to attend instead.

When is the G-20 summit taking place?

Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House, denied the claim and responded sharply to Ramaphosa’s remarks. She also accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of speaking negatively about the US, stating that President Doland Trump and his team do not appreciate such language.”

What did the White House say in response?

The White House Press Secretary said, “I saw the South African president running his mouth a little bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today, and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team,” as reported by AP.

Furthermore, she stated that the U.S. was sending a diplomat on the summit not to actually take part, but to simply acknowledge the U.S. will take over the rotating presidency of the bloc and host next year’s G20 summit.

A representative from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa will be present for the formal handover at the end of the two-day summit that starts on Saturday, though Washington will still not be part of the talks, a spokesperson for the White House said. The spokesperson was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke anonymously.

Some analysts suggested that Trump, under pressure from some of his own party allies at home, was persuaded to have some representation at the G20 after he asked Ramaphosa earlier in the week to have no declaration at the Summit without the US.

Ramaphosa had also dismissed this suggestion. “We will have a Declaration. The talks are going extremely well. We will not be bullied. We will not agree to be bullied,” Ramaphosa said emphatically to reporters after addressing the G20 Social Summit. “I’m confident that we are moving towards a declaration and they are now just dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s,” Ramaphosa said as the G20 Sherpas moved toward concluding their three-day meeting.

Notably, US President Doland Trump has announced that no US government official will participate in the G20 summit, citing human rights violations in South Africa. In response, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that the US absence is “their loss” and that Pretoria will proceed with the summit regardless. This year, South Africa will host the G20 Leaders Summit, with President Cyril Ramaphosa presiding from November 22 to November 23 at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.

The Group of 20 (G20) comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India(BHARAT), Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with two regional bodies, namely the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), as per MEA.The G20 members represent around 85 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), over 75 per cent of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world’s population.