The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: The Truth About South Africa’s Anti-American Agenda

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

On this episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Hanson unpacks South Africa’s racialist policies and its attempt to leverage U.S. generosity while showing open hostility. “ T���his is not the South Africa that we used to know. But it was running on the fumes of Mandelaism. At the United Nations, it’s hostile to the United States. It takes advantage of the free trade agreement to run up a $9 billion surplus….It shows no gratitude. It attacks us.” 00:00  The Ambush That Wasn't 00:11 The Real Reason Behind the Meeting 00:37 South Africa's Controversial Stance 03:21 Trump's Response to Ramaphosa 04:37 The Broader Implications 06:17 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1    👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/victordavishanson7273    👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. We've had another quote-unquote ambush in the White House. That was not an ambush. Mr. Cyril Ramposa, the president of South Africa, wanted that meeting with Donald Trump. He requested it. Why did he want to meet Trump? He wanted to meet Trump because he had a free trade agreement with the United States with no tariffs.

And he was running a $9 billion surplus. And in addition to that, he was getting $500 million in foreign aid from the United States. His ambassador had just been expelled by Marco Lubio because he made a video and said Donald Trump was a white supremacist and then said that he was part of a white victimhood movement. This is the ambassador. This is not the South Africa with such promise 30 years ago. This is not Nelson Mandela. This is a racial estate and it's one of the most anti-Western and anti-American. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for The Daily Signal. We've had another quote-unquote ambush in the White House. Ambush, remember, means an unexpected attack on someone from a secretive place. That was not an ambush. Mr. Cyril Ramposa, the president of South Africa, wanted that meeting with Donald Trump. He requested it. And when he came in, he was prepared to refute Donald Trump. In fact, if you look at the media before, the meeting, they didn't use the word ambush. They were giddy. They thought, wow, he's going to give Trump a bill of goods. What he didn't think was that Trump was ready for the bill of goods and had his own bill of goods. But here's the real backstory to the whole thing. Why did he want to meet Trump? He wanted to meet Trump because he had a free trade agreement with the United States with no tariffs placed on South African agriculture, everything, metals, everything. And he was running a $9 billion.

surplus. And in addition to that, he was getting $500 million in foreign aid from the United States. And in addition to that, his ambassador had just been fired or expelled by Marco Rubio. Why? Because in a performance art fashion, he made a video and said Donald Trump was a white supremacist. This is the ambassador just before this visit, not too long earlier, and then said that he was part of a white victimhood movement. So they kicked him out. Was he embarrassed? No, he had a hero's welcome when he went back. And then we have the larger context of South Africa. It usually votes at the United Nations against the United States. It signed on to the international criminal court's farce that was going to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal. We had the video that was shown about the leader of the third largest party in South Africa,

saying that they wanted to kill the boar, kill the farmer to a big crowd. And by the way, the year before, he said that in 2022, something called the South African Equity Court, declared that kill the boar, kill the farmer is not hate speech. I don't know what hate speech is in South Africa if it's not kill a designated minority. And so when you look at all of this, Donald Trump got sick of it. And he said, this country, we don't have any problem with it. We don't hate South Africa, but they're not our friends. This is not Nelson Mandela.

This is not the age of conciliation. This is not the South Africa was such promised 30 years ago. This is a racialist state. It's one of the most violent countries in the world. And it's one of the most anti-Western and anti-American. And so when Mr. Ramposa came to set Donald Trump straight, Donald Trump said, You know what? I don't think you like us, so I'm not going to give you $500 million in foreign aid. You know what? I don't think you like us because you think I'm a white supremacist, so we're not going to give you free trade into our markets.

We're going to charge 30 percent tariff. You know what? You know, your ambassador, all you guys come over here, you don't like us. You think that the left-wing foundations, the left-wing media, the left-wing universities are running the country. They're not. They're not. So when you come over here and attack us and call us racist, maybe you shouldn't come over here, you know, just have a little piece. Maybe you're all your foreign students, your green card holders, your visitor visa.

Maybe we should just have a little cooling off period. And so what Donald Trump was saying is that this is not the South Africa that we used to know, but it was running on the fumes of Mandelaism. at the United States, it's hostile to the United States. At the United Nations, it's hostile to the United States. It takes advantage of the trade agreement to run up a $9 billion surplus. It gets $500 million in aid, and it shows no gratitude. It attacks us. It attacks us.

And then when we try to say that you have a law that is going to appropriate land without compensation, You deny that you're doing it. That was the whole purpose of it. No compensation. You can say, well, it was for public domain, but everybody knows that. So everybody who confiscates land does it for the public, but they compensate people except you. And finally, you know, you want Internet. You want Internet like Ukraine has.

You want Internet like remote places in Asia and Africa have. And you want, therefore, Starlink. And you think that Elon Musk is a native son. so you're going to invite him in and have a starlink. But you can't even do that. You say you can come in. We'll give you the privilege to come into our market as if Elon Musk needs that. But we're going to take a third of your country, a company, and your franchise here in South Africa.

And it has to be staff partnered with people who are of a particular color, black people. And Elon Musk says, I think I'll pass on that nice invitation. And then they get very angry. and now they'll probably been. Final word? I think Mr. Romposa will be, I don't think Donald Trump will visit South Africa, but I guarantee you Mr. Romposa will want another meeting like Mr. Zelensky did, and he will come in and he will say, please take away the 30% tariff.

Please give us the $500 million handout in foreign aid. Please let all the South Africans, not just the 48 people, and by the way, whom we call, cowards because they didn't want to play the lottery whether they were going to get killed or not. But let all of us come back in, please, please, please, and we promised that we will not allow people to pack stadiums, say kill the bar, kill the farmer, and say that's not hate speech. This is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this.

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