Merz to urge Trump to reconsider G20 ban on South Africa

BERLIN - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday he would urge US President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision to bar South Africa from the 2026 G20 summit in Florida.

The US and South Africa are at odds over a range of domestic and foreign policies and last week Washington snubbed the G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Trump ambushed South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa during a visit to the White House earlier this year, notably over false claims of a "white genocide" in the country.

On Wednesday Trump said he was excluding South Africa from the 2026 summit, due to be held at his own golf resort in Miami, citing alleged "horrific Human Rights Abuses" against white South Africans.

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"I will try, in my conversations and meetings with the American president... to convince him that it would be good to invite all members of the G20 to America,"Merz told a press conference in Berlin.

"I regretted that the American government was not present last weekend in Johannesburg," Merz said, adding that the G20 was "one of the most important multilateral formats we still have in the world".

Merz said that a rift with South Africa would ultimately not be in Washington's interest.

"The American government is needlessly relinquishing influence, including influence in a part of the world that is becoming increasingly important," Merz said.

South Africa has decried what it calls Trump's "punitive measures... based on misinformation and distortions about our country"

The two nations have also fallen out over issues including South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice, the UN's top court.

Trump has meanwhile slapped 30 percent tariffs on South Africa, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

The G20 comprises 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union, and accounts for 85 percent of the world's GDP and two-thirds of its population.