Ambush or relationship reset? Daily Maverick writers assess Ramaphosa’s meeting with Trump

‘An ambush’ — Rebecca Davis, senior journalist

He didn’t get Zelenskyed. He didn’t get Zelenskyed. He didn’t get Zelenskyed.

That’s what we have to hang on to: President Cyril Ramaphosa did not get personally insulted by the world’s most horrible duo of playground bullies, US Vice-President JD Vance and President Donald Trump, in the full glare of the international media — as happened to their wildly undeserving victim, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, in February.

But what happened in the Oval Office on Wednesday was, nonetheless, an ambush. That’s the term currently dominating US media headlines about the encounter.

It was impossible not to feel for Ramaphosa, who had been bombarded with messaging before the trip that he should under no circumstances lose his cool, rise to the bait, or in any way antagonise the world’s most powerful man. So he didn’t. Some will call that a victory in itself, and yet who among us did not also secretly yearn to see Ramaphosa fight back a little more?

‘The meeting should never have happened’ — Ferial Haffajee, associate editor 

It started well — Team SA with a tactical delegation of well-regarded political, sports and business leaders. A clever touch saw golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, who have teed off with Trump, putt for their country.

Things started genially enough. Then, Trump dimmed the Oval Office lights and played a mini-documentary crudely splicing EFF leader Julius Malema’s rendition of his favourite song (Dubul’ Ibhunu) and AfriForum’s white-cross farm protests to “prove” his theory of a genocide. The New York Times called it an “astonishing ambush”; I call it a shit show. Such blatant lies by one of the world’s most powerful men, which we were powerless to effectively rebut.

Ramaphosa maintained his calm as he responded with occasional spice. SA may yet grab victory from the jaws of defeat: the US is hungry for critical minerals and we have healthy reserves. Trump did not say he would not come to the G20. His officials are taking part in all the meetings.

But if an attack was anticipated and in the face of obvious calumny, should the meeting have happened or should we have waited for various multilateral processes under way to play out and avoid the public humiliation?

‘We got off lightly’ — Anso Thom, deputy editor

I am an eternal and impatient optimist, but I had very low expectations of the meeting. I thought Trump would have thrown a much bigger, Trump-sized ambush at us. It felt a bit tired, nothing new to show and images and narratives that have all been seen before.

He played to his domestic base, he was always going to. I thought Trump’s response to the question about the International Court of Justice was tame. Other than handing over tabloid media printouts, Vance had no role.

The golfers were there to open a door, open Trump’s mind and keep things fairly civil. I think we got off lightly; we didn’t get a hole-in-one, but we got a birdie. US-SA relations are in a better place than a few weeks ago, but time will tell. We are dealing with a reality TV star after all.

‘Golfing cameos and quiet appeasement’ — Angela Daniels, Nelson Mandela Bay bureau editor

When Ramaphosa met Trump, many — well, maybe just those of us who like to see the best in everyone — hoped for a serious discussion on diplomacy, trade and shared challenges.

But no, the meeting quickly spiralled into madness.

Trump launched into a series of wild claims about South Africa, backed by a cherry-picked video. Meanwhile, standing awkwardly by were golf legends Ernie Els and Retief Goosen — talented sportsmen, sure, but what the hell do they have to do with international relations?

Watching Ramaphosa’s polite but visibly uncomfortable smile as Trump flicked through crime scene photos was painful.

This was a moment to push back hard. To speak for the country. To correct the record. Instead, we got golfing cameos and quiet appeasement.

What was that, President Ramaphosa? Didn’t you see the ambush coming?

‘It’s about race’ — Stephen Grootes, associate editor

Never in the history of reported meetings between heads of state has one ambushed another with videos and recordings. It may have happened at the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but not in a one-on-one meeting, and never with heads of state. And Trump would never do it to a Chinese leader. Or even the leader of Qatar (which is giving him a jet).

This reveals his agenda: it is about race, and thus about South Africa.

Ramaphosa went in with several priorities, but the most important was to avoid a shouting match. He achieved that. And he scored some points of his own.

We should not forget that this is about a much bigger audience than people in the US or South Africa. The rest of the world saw it, and saw it for what it was. To them, Ramaphosa might well have looked like the adult in the room. As he so often does.

‘Possible step towards rapprochement’ — J Brooks Spector, associate editor

Things first seemed heading towards the style of Trump’s meetings with Canada’s Mark Carney and Britain’s Keir Starmer rather than the Zelensky mugging.

Initially there was sufficient joviality that it seemed just possible this meeting would stay on a relatively adult tenor. But the moment Trump was given his lead, goaded by sharp press questions about such things as the $400-million gift airplane from Qatar, he took off the gloves and showed a video purportedly about the genocide of white farmers in South Africa.

The meeting only partially returned to civility by passionate observations from delegation member and billionaire Johann Rupert speaking about efforts to build a more inclusive society, rebutting a video that included Malema’s incendiary words.

It is just possible, by the time the messaging after the meeting comes from the two sides, some movement towards rapprochement will be visible.

There are positive outcomes. Ramaphosa said the luncheon and subsequent discussions focused on real issues like trade and investment and not that nonsense about white farmer genocide. If further meetings move those chess pieces forward, the trip may have been worthwhile despite the charade with the video and the associated vitriol from Trump. Maybe. DM