South African President Remains Optimistic About U.S. Relations Despite Ambassador Expulsion
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he’ll receive a full report from former Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool while charting a way forward for restored relations with the U.S.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the U.S. government's expulsion of its ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, as a "hiccup." Speaking with the local press earlier today, Ramaphosa said Rasool's forced removal is "a hiccup we're working on straightening out."
The diplomatic incident began last Friday when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcedRasool's expulsion on X, calling him "a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates [U.S. President Donald Trump]." Rubio was reacting to Rasool's comment that Trump is "mobilizing a supremacism" domestically and globally.
Rasool made these remarks during a webinar hosted by the Johannesburg-based Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). The discussion focused on the Trump administration's increasingly unfriendly stance toward South Africa. During the webinar, Rasool explained that the South African government is taking a "nuanced and measured approach" to Trump's executive order halting foreign aid to South Africa.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated amid the Trump administration's misinformed concerns over South Africa's recent expropriation bill. Observers also point to South Africa's role in bringing Israel before the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide in Gaza as a source of tension with the pro-Israel Trump administration.
Rasool, serving his second term as ambassador to the U.S. after previously holding the position during the Obama administration, stated that the South African government was ready for "transactional negotiation" with the U.S., its second-largest trading partner. "We must firmly know what our top, middle, and bottom lines are and then be open to negotiating the top line. We cannot afford to misrepresent the expectations of 60 million South Africans, and we cannot fall into the trap of binary options."
In his analysis, Rasool suggested that Trump's apparent white supremacist values motivated his hostile stance toward South Africa, though he expressed belief that there would be some eventual policy reversals.
Despite Rasool's expulsion potentially complicating diplomatic relations between the two nations, Ramaphosa remains optimistic. The South African president said he will receive a full report from Rasool upon his return to South Africa in the coming days as his government seeks to repair relations with the Trump administration. "We will therefore seek to ensure our relations are on a good footing, which is one thing we do with all countries in the world. We don't have enemies in the world. We always seek to have very good and friendly relations."
Meanwhile, according to Eyewitness News, Rasool texted family and friends, saying he has no regrets about his comments and subsequent expulsion. He reportedly told them that he and his wife were packed and looking forward to returning home.