TOM EATON | Forget whether the US can disinvite South Africa ― will it be in shape to host the G20 at all?

A cognitively cratering Donald Trump has once again repeated his lie about the fictitious persecution of whites in South Africa, using it as an excuse to disinvite the country from next year’s G20 meeting in the United States.

Given the trajectory of the US, though, it’s possible that the only countries that actually end up attending will be Russia, Argentina, and the soon-to-be-formed Confederacy of White Christian Nationalist Suckers.

On Wednesday evening the increasingly frail and confused Trump posted another screed on Truth Social, claiming that the US had boycotted the G20 because “the South African government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific Human Right Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and other descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers.”

“To put it more bluntly,” rambled Trump, “they are killing white people, and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them.” Because of this imaginary persecution, he went on, “South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20”.

I could tell you for the hundredth time that Trump is lying when he says that white people are being specifically targeted in South Africa. After all, if Trump is breathing, he’s lying.

But in this case even his own government has confirmed that his racist fantasies about South Africa are bullshit: the State Department’s list of travel advisories, warning US tourists about the dangers of the world, still has South Africa at level 2 ― the same level as the UK, France, Denmark Sweden ― with no mention whatsoever of organised violence against white people.

The trouble, of course, is that about a month before the G20 will gather in 2026 at one of Trump’s golf estates in Miami (they’re not even trying to hide the corruption any more) the US is having a little thing called the midterm election.

Still, populist hustlers like Trump have always understood the value of the big lie, and this one is particularly profitable for a president suffering the worst polling of his wretched career. Not only can he be seen to be punishing South Africa for dragging Israel to the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, but it also provides a perfect racist bedtime story to tell his MAGA rubes, all about a faraway country where godless black socialists are wiping out poor little white Christians who’ve lived there peacefully and politely for centuries, respecting their neighbours and definitely not weaponising whiteness and Christianity to ruin millions of African lives.

On Thursday the South African government responded, politely explaining that Trump’s position was disappointing while reminding him that the G20 doesn’t invite members to gatherings: if you’re in, you’re in ― a detail that might make things rather tricky this time next year.

The trouble, of course, is that about a month before the G20 will gather in 2026 at one of Trump’s golf estates in Miami (they’re not even trying to hide the corruption any more) the US is having a little thing called the midterm election.

This election is essentially a referendum on the Trump regime as it reaches its midpoint, and, according to a growing number of worried pundits, there is a non-zero chance that MAGA is not going to leave the result (currently leaning fairly heavily towards Democrat candidates) to erratic, untrustworthy things like chance or the democratic will of the people.

If Trump steals the midterms for Republican candidates, or, worse, fabricates a crisis to postpone the election altogether, the G20 is likely to arrive in a country on fire and possibly under martial law.

Of course, this wouldn’t bother the Russian or Chinese delegations, which would view any anti-democratic crackdowns as a heartwarming taste of home, and Argentina will obviously do nothing to jeopardise the flow of bailout money from Washington; but I can’t imagine many of the other G20 attendees carrying on as if it’s business as usual.

All of which is why I wonder if, rather than being distressed by Trump’s attempt to ban them, some South African diplomats might be feeling slightly relieved by being personally offered an official White House hall pass for avoiding the US in one of its most explosive years since the Civil War.

And who knows? Come this time next year, the whole planet might be watching the US from a safe distance as it quotes Trump and mutters: very bad things are happening there.