Trump dismisses question about South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel

US President Donald Trump, right, meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
US President Donald Trump, right, meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

US President Donald Trump is asked by reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with his South African counterpart whether he expects Johannesburg to drop its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

“I don’t expect anything to be honest. I don’t know. They’ve got a case. There’s a lot of anger… We’ll have a ruling, and who knows what the ruling is going to mean,” Trump responds.

Pressed whether he plans to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing global outcry over Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, Trump declines to answer directly.

Trump makes the remarks alongside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House.

Trump also tells Ramaphosa he is looking for an explanation of claims of “genocide” against white Afrikaners, surprising the South African leader with a video designed to back the baseless claims.

“Generally, they’re white farmers, and they’re fleeing South Africa, and it’s a very sad thing to see. But I hope we can have an explanation of that, because I know you don’t want that,” Trump says.

He asks staff members to play a video on a screen set up in the Oval Office showing Ramaphosa — and the gathered global media — what he says are clips of Black South Africans talking about the issue, including images of what the US president calls “burial sites.”

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