Elon Musk will attend the White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa, was listed as part of the U.S. delegation in a release from the South African presidency.
The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has accused Ramaphosa’s government of overseeing the persecution of white people in South Africa, an allegation they firmly deny.
Why It Matters
Musk’s presence at the meeting, and the tensions with South Africa over withheld funding and treating Afrikaners as refugees, raise the possibility of another dramatic White House clash like that with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
Ramaphosa is hoping to reset the U.S. relationship and wants to engage with Trump on trade—perhaps the American president’s favorite subject—and make a deal with Musk on bringing Starlink’s satellite internet coverage to South Africa.
What To Know
Musk has been at the forefront of the criticism of his homeland, casting its affirmative action business laws as racist. He said on social media that his Starlink service wasn’t able to get a license to operate in South Africa because he was white.
South African authorities say Starlink hasn’t formally applied. If it did, it would be bound by laws that require foreign companies to allow 30 percent of their South African subsidiaries to be owned by shareholders who are Black or from other racial groups disadvantaged under apartheid.
Trump has also launched a series of accusations at South Africa’s black-led government, including that it is seizing land from white farmers, enforcing anti-white policies, and pursuing an anti-American foreign policy.
Ramaphosa said he hopes to correct what he calls damaging mischaracterizations during the meeting, which is Trump’s first with an African leader at the White House since he returned to office.
Elon Musk waves as he arrives for a state dinner at the Lusail Palace on May 14, 2025, in Doha, Qatar.
Elon Musk waves as he arrives for a state dinner at the Lusail Palace on May 14, 2025, in Doha, Qatar.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Trump’s criticism of South Africa began in early February in a post on Truth Social when he accused South Africa’s government of seizing land from white Afrikaner farmers and a “massive Human Rights VIOLATION” against members of the white minority.
The allegation that Afrikaners were being mistreated was at the center of an executive order Trump issued days later that cut all U.S. assistance to South Africa.
He went further this month, alleging there was a “genocide” against white farmers and the Trump administration has brought a small group of white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees in what it says is the start of a larger relocation program.
As the first group of refugee farmers arrived in the U.S. last week, Ramaphosa rejected the idea that they deserved such status.
“A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution, or economic persecution,” Ramaphosa had said. “And they don’t fit that bill.”
South Africa’s Land Law
Ramaphosa of the ruling ANC party signed the Expropriation Act into law in January. The law aims to address land ownership disparities rooted in the country’s apartheid past by allowing land expropriation in the public interest.
While the law permits expropriation without compensation under specific circumstances, the South African government says that private property rights remain protected. They also say it primarily targets unused land and does not permit arbitrary seizures.
But Trump and some conservative groups in the U.S. believe it is being used to take land from white people. Musk has also spoken out about the law.
“The South African government passed a law legalizing taking property from white people at will with no payment,” Musk posted in March, “Where is the outrage? Why is there no coverage by the legacy media?”
What People Are Saying
Speaking to reporters as he arrived in the U.S., South African President Ramaphosa said: “The trade relations are the most important. That is what has brought us here. We want to come out of the United States with a really good trade deal, investment promotion. We invest in the United States and they invest in us.
“And we want to strengthen those relations, and we want to consolidate good relations between our two countries. So I’m very positive, I’m looking forward to the discussions we’re going to have.”
What’s Next
The meeting at the White House between the U.S. and South African delegations is due to take place on Wednesday morning through to the afternoon.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.