US Secretary of State Rubio drops bombshell, won’t attend G20 summit in SA, cites ‘anti-Americanism’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced he will not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg, casting doubts on the ability of South Africa to preside over this major grouping of important countries this year.

His decision to skip the summit seemed to indicate he would also not attend the preparatory meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Johannesburg on 20 and 21 February, and has also raised doubts about whether President Donald Trump will attend the G20 in South Africa in November. 

Rubio posted on X on Wednesday night: “I will NOT attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability’. In other words: DEI and climate change. My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”

“Solidarity, equality and sustainability” are the themes South Africa has chosen for its presidency and Rubio has now dismissed these as “DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) and climate change”, which are both anathema to the Trump administration. 

The “bad things” to which Rubio referred probably include the passing of the Expropriation Act, to which Trump reacted recently by vowing to cut off all aid to South Africa.

Rubio, a hawk on China, also recently posted criticism of South Africa for its attempts to force the Taiwan representative office from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola responded calmly but firmly to Rubio’s announcement: “We are a sovereign and democratic country committed to human dignity, equality, and rights, championing non-racialism and non-sexism while placing our Constitution and the rule of law at the forefront.

“There is no arbitrary dispossession of land/private property. This law is similar to the eminent domain laws,” he added, referring to laws of most countries, including the US, which allow the state to expropriate land in some circumstances.  

“Solidarity/Ubuntu promotes collective problem-solving. Our G20 Presidency is not confined to just climate change but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring an equal global system for all. 

“These are important principles that we remain open to pursue and engage the United States on.” 

Read more: Ramaphosa flags ‘disinformation’ concerns in call with Musk after Trump’s false land reform claims

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Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs, said Rubio’s decision presented South Africa with a particular challenge as the US – in its capacity as next year’s president of the G20 – was part of the troika of countries that were supposed to help South Africa manage its presidency. 

“So, clearly at this stage, by all accounts, this is unlikely to happen – that there’s going to be a workable, functioning troika.”

And she said that even if the US were not part of the troika, its absence, as the largest economy in the world, a systemically extremely important player, was going to have a major impact. Rubio’s withdrawal also raised doubts about whether the US treasury secretary would attend the G20 finance ministers meeting later in the month. 

“The G20, after all, is about bringing together systemically important players to try to work on consensus, to work, to build consensus, to be able to do things at the global level, in the first instance, maintain global economic stability, and resilience… it’s really about these countries working together specifically to ensure that there is economic growth, that there is global financial stability and economic stability, that there is a financial safety net and so on.

“So if your biggest economy and a very important financial player in the world sort of decides they’re not going to engage on G20 issues, or they’re not going to engage through the G20 on many of these issues, that obviously creates a problem for a grouping that is intended to work closely together… it’s like the economic steering committee of the world.”

Sidiropoulos said it was unclear whether the US would not pull out of the G20 entirely this year or continue to participate at some level. 

“So if they were to continue to be involved, but sort of take objection to certain things, it doesn’t mean the G20 has to collapse. It does mean that the purpose of the G20, its ability  to coordinate and cooperate, particularly on global financial issues, I think will be eroded, will be affected.”

But Sidiropoulos said Rubio and the Trump administration might be directing this action not against the G20 itself but to make South Africa’s presidency very difficult because of its objections to some South African policy decisions, such as on land. 

“And it may very well be that they think South Africa is far too woke, you know, and they’re not going to engage with South Africa.

“I mean, the comment that he made about our strapline – solidarity, quality and sustainability, in other words, DEI and climate change – I think highlights that.”

She said South Africa was obviously not going to change its entire G20 agenda to accommodate the US, but it might need to recalibrate in some way. She thought it was possible that if President Cyril Ramaphosa engaged with Trump or Elon Musk on issues such as land expropriation, that might defuse tensions so that the US continued to participate in the G20 meetings and Trump attended the summit. 

Sidiropoulos said she believed the other G20 countries, with the possible exception of Argentina, and the observer countries, would be sympathetic to South Africa in its dilemma rather than to the US, given how the Trump administration has been conducting international relations. 

But she acknowledged that it was impossible to be sure what the Trump administration would do next. DM