US President Donald Trump will not attend this year's G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, alongside several other key leaders. Trump cited "white South Africans being killed and slaughtered" in reference to a discredited claim he made about genocide in the country. In response, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had expressed hope for U.S participation, but White House officials have downplayed this.
Trump's absence will further strain relations between the US and South Africa, where tensions around issues such as climate change, debt relief, and multilateralism are already high. China has also opted not to send its President Xi Jinping, with Premier Li Qiang instead attending the summit. Russia, meanwhile, will be represented by Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin.
Argentina's President Javier Milei won't be present either, sending his foreign minister Pablo Quirno in his place. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has opted not to attend either, with a senior minister representing her instead.
The summit is taking place against the backdrop of rising global tensions and an uncertain economic landscape, where climate change issues are increasingly being pushed to the forefront. South Africa's participation highlights the G20's efforts to find solutions to these pressing global challenges.
Trump's absence will further strain relations between the US and South Africa, where tensions around issues such as climate change, debt relief, and multilateralism are already high. China has also opted not to send its President Xi Jinping, with Premier Li Qiang instead attending the summit. Russia, meanwhile, will be represented by Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin.
Argentina's President Javier Milei won't be present either, sending his foreign minister Pablo Quirno in his place. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has opted not to attend either, with a senior minister representing her instead.
The summit is taking place against the backdrop of rising global tensions and an uncertain economic landscape, where climate change issues are increasingly being pushed to the forefront. South Africa's participation highlights the G20's efforts to find solutions to these pressing global challenges.
trump making a whole thing outta nothing about south africa... i dont think its gonna help with relations btw, might even make things worse 
anyways china skipping it too is pretty interesting, but i guess that's what happens when you wanna be all cool and don't want to be tied down by anyone 
[link to news about Trump's comments on South Africa]
. Trump's claim about white South Africans getting killed is super questionable, and I'm surprised he even brought it up. Did you guys see that video of the "genocide" he shared? It was basically just a manipulated photo with no context 
. Anyway, it's not surprising that the G20 summit is suffering because of this, especially since South Africa was really looking forward to having some US presence there.
. China and Russia are skipping out too, which just adds to the drama. I mean, I get that tensions are high globally, but can't we all just try to work together on these big problems? 
... I mean, it makes sense what he said about those white South Africans though, it was super concerning 
. The thing is, climate change is a huge issue and we need world leaders working together on this. Without Trump attending, it's gonna be a real challenge for South Africa to make progress with the US 
. I'm all for multilateralism, like China and Russia are showing us, but without some of the big players in attendance, it's just not gonna be the same... and what about Argentina and Mexico? It's like they're really feeling the pressure too 
. Can't believe we're living in a world where our leaders can't even agree on something as simple as attending a summit 
It's gonna make things way harder for them at the summit. I get that Trump can be... provocative, but is that really necessary? Can't we all just talk it out? 
Maybe China and Russia are trying to send a message too? China's got its own problems with Xi Jinping, so I'm curious why he didn't go... and Russia's got some issues with its own economy... does this mean they're gonna start taking sides or something? 
.
and south africa is trying to host this summit but they're already dealing with so many problems including debt relief and multilateralism it feels like nobody even cares about their struggles 
. that's gonna make things super tense between us and south africa already dealing with climate change, debt etc... china and russia not sending their big shots too. argentina and mexico opting out too. feels like the whole thing is falling apart 
. it's all about optics, right? 
meanwhile argie & mexico are out too poor decisions by these leaders 
Russia still showing up tho. 
South Africa's presence at the summit is a good thing, hoping they can find solutions to global challenges 
. We need leaders who are down-to-earth and willing to work together 
meanwhile China and Russia are like "screw you, we're good"