US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order freezing US aid to South Africa (SA) over a law allowing the expropriation of land property, which the White House says discriminates against the country's white minority, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
A few days ago, Trump said he would suspend US funding for the African country over its land reform law.
"The United States is suspending its aid while South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent farmers from the disadvantaged minority," the White House said today. The text states that Trump will also announce a program that will allow white South African farmers and their families to resettle with refugee status.
The measures were taken after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law last month that allows the expropriation of agricultural property under certain circumstances. The White House said the law "grossly discriminates against the Afrikaner ethnic minority" (descendants of European, mainly Dutch colonizers – ed.). The law allows land to be taken when it is not being used or when its redistribution would be in the public interest. The aim is to correct the mistakes of the apartheid era in South Africa, when a policy of segregation of the black population was imposed, including through the seizure of land.
The new texts have attracted the attention of close Trump ally Elon Musk, who headed the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has described the land reform as a threat to the white minority in South Africa.
Ramaphosa stressed that his government has not confiscated property and that the new policy aims to ensure equal access to agricultural land. On Thursday, he said his country would not be "bullied".
The US defence secretary said President Donald Trump supported the AUCUS pact, under which Australia is to acquire US nuclear submarines over the next decade, after Canberra announced it had paid the first $500 million under the contract, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"The president is very aware, supports AUCUS and recognises the importance of the defence-industrial complex," Pete Hegseth said at a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart Richard Marles in Washington.
The AUCUS pact was concluded in 2021 in connection with concerns about China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. The agreement stipulates that Australia will pay the US $3 billion. dollars to increase the capacity of American submarine production, and Washington to sell Australia several nuclear submarines of the "Virginia" class in the early 2030s. Later, Britain and Australia should develop a new class of nuclear submarines.
Hegseth said in response to a journalistic question whether the United States would deliver the nuclear submarines to Australia on time, saying: "We very much hope". He recalled that Trump's commitments include reducing bureaucracy, investing in the defense industry and ensuring that the United States will support its allies.
Marles, for his part, noted that his country was "satisfied with the progress in the pace of production" of the "Virginia" class submarines. He is the first foreign defense minister that Hegseth has received in Washington. The two ministers are expected to discuss security in the Indo-Pacific region and the strengthening of the US military presence in Australia.