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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seeking to expel South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, after the official criticized Donald Trump during a forum early on Friday.
“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio wrote on X later that day.
He accused Rasool of being “a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates [the president of the United States] @POTUS.”
“We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,” Rubio added.
The Independent has contacted the South African Embassy in Washington for comment.
Rubio, in his announcement, pointed to remarks from Rasool at a recent panel hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, a South African think tank.
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During his comments, Rasool argued that Trump’s Make American Great Again movement, as well as Elon Musk and JD Vance’s efforts this year boosting right-wing parties in the UK and Germany, were part of a global movement catering to the anxieties of white communities.
“It may not be true, it may not make sense, but that is not the dog whistle that is being heard in a global, white base,” the ambassador said.
The ambassador, who served the same post in the Obama administration, had already reportedly been struggling to get meetings with Trump administration figures and top Republicans in Washington.
“A man named Ebrahim, who is Muslim, with a history of pro-Palestine politics, is not likely to do well in that job right now,” a South African diplomat told Semafor.
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The expulsion effort is the latest a swift deterioration that’s taken place in the U.S.-South Africa relationship during the opening months of the Trump administration.
Last month, the White House said it would cut off U.S. aid to South Africa in protest of the country accusing Israel of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
The Trump administration also cited opposition to a land expropriation law meant to remedy the country’s history of racial inequality and past forced displacement of Black families.
The White House has accused the law, which in some cases allows expropriation without compensation, of being racist against white Afrikaners in South Africa.
South Africa has also announced plans to spend more on health, with cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The country cares for the world’s largest HIV population and has over 5 million of people on antiretroviral drugs supported by the U.S. in the past.
