The G20 Line-up For This Weekend Is Shrinking

Why did the U.S. boycott this global summit – and what happens now?

This weekend, global leaders from the G20 countries will meet for the first time in Africa, hosted by South Africa. The group comprises 19 countries from around the world, and two regional bodies (the European Union and the African Union). In total, G20 member countries are home to more than 60% of the world’s total population, and about 85% of its GDP. 

In early November, however, President Trump announced the U.S. would boycott this year’s G20 gathering. Argentinian President Javier Milei followed suit on Nov. 11, announcing that Argentinian officials would join the boycott. The New York Times also reported that officials from Saudi Arabia and Türkiye requested not to be named in summary working group reports from pre-conference meetings. 

The reason for the boycott – and Trump’s absence? The U.S. move was not completely unexpected, following false statements about South Africa’s alleged mistreatment of white citizens, specifically claims of land expropriation and violence targeting white farmers. This same misinformation prompted deep shifts in U.S. refugee policy this year, and fueled a contentious Oval Office meeting in May between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. However, there is no evidence of racially motivated violence against white South Africans. These claims have been repeatedly and roundly rejected by international experts, South African state officials, and South African citizens’ groups.

For the G20, official boycotts are rare 

G20 meetings have been an occasion for protests in the past – for example, London in 2009, Toronto in 2010, and Hamburg in 2017. But official boycotts by member countries are somewhat rare, and former U.S. diplomats have called this year’s boycott “not at all normal.” The U.S. absence will be all the more notable, since the South African president is scheduled to symbolically hand over the chairmanship to the leader of the next host country – for 2026, the United States. Late Thursday, the New York Times reported that the U.S. ambassador to South Africa would step in for the handover ceremony as the summit concludes. 

This isn’t the first time this year that U.S. officials have snubbed South Africa’s presidency of the G20. In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to attend G20 planning meetings, claiming that this year’s summit theme, Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability, meant “DEI and Climate Change.” Rubio said his duty was to “advance American national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.” This statement coincided with the U.S. announcement of the Special Refugee Program for white South Africans, and kicked off a new era of tense relations between the U.S. and South Africa.

Why is the U.S. withdrawing?

The U.S. boycott of the G20 meetings, according to Trump administration officials, is because of the alleged human rights violations against white South Africans. These claims of widespread expropriations of land and campaigns of violence have been repeatedly debunked, however. After that contentious Oval Office meeting between Ramaphosa and Trump in May 2025, a televised panel of South Africans from across the political spectrum agreed that allegations of a “white genocide” are false. 

The driving force behind U.S. tensions with South Africa may be a bit more complex. Rocky relations between the two countries flared in the wake of 2022 allegations by U.S. officials that South Africa was transferring weapons to Russia. And a 2024 genocide case against Israel that South Africa filed in the International Court of Justice directly implicated the United States in their arguments. Whether Trump administration officials believe in the “Big Lie” of white genocide or are actually boycotting the G20 summit because of other international disputes with South Africa is somewhat immaterial. The upshot is that U.S. delegates, along with some U.S. allies, will not be joining their counterparts in South Africa.

Why meet in Africa? 

The G20 meeting is an informal gathering, aimed at promoting economic growth and stability. The summit itself is the culmination of thematic working groups and meetings throughout the year, focusing on specific issues, gathering both national and financial leaders from participating countries. The goals of this year’s meetings include everything from climate change and AI policies to trade, crime, security, development, and health compacts. The summit and pre-summit conferences generally produce multilateral policy coordination and nonbinding agreements. 

The G20 group was very successful at achieving international cooperation in the late 2000s. More recently, internal pressures and international conflicts have made it more difficult to reach consensus across such a wide range of members. This year’s summit will include a slate of invited guests from the East African Community, the African Development Bank, and the Southern African Development Community, among others. Efforts to incorporate Africa more fully in the international financial community are critical for a continent with vast natural resources, a huge youth population, up to 65% of the world’s arable land, and enormous potential for growth. Hosting the summit in Africa this year was also a move to incorporate emerging economies on the continent more fully and work collaboratively with regional organizations, as well as pressure larger and more powerful countries to do more for economic development.

What to expect this weekend

Ramaphosa, in response to a reporter’s question on Nov. 12, said the U.S. absence is “their loss,” but remained optimistic about what the group could accomplish at this year’s meeting. While the U.S.-led boycott is certainly a disruption to business as usual, some experts say that the absence will have only “minimal impact.” Others argue that it gives countries like China and Russia – both of which will be represented by official delegations but not their leaders – opportunities to expand their influence in Africa, at the expense of U.S. influence in the region. 

What seems certain, however, is that the spotlight on South Africa has grown brighter with the news of the U.S. withdrawal from the summit. It remains to be seen if South Africa can now take advantage of the international sympathy resulting from the U.S. snub

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