Secretary of State Marco Rubio lashed out at South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. for criticizing the Trump administration, declaring him “persona non grata.” While sharing a Breitbart article titled, “South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool: Trump is Leading Global White Supremacist Movement,” Rubio wrote on X: “South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country. Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.” Rasool’s initial comments claimed the Trump administration is trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle that there is a global protective movement that is beginning to envelop embattled white communities or apparently embattles white communities.” Trump has insisted that South Africa’s minority white population is unsafe. In an executive order last month, he offered to take them in as refugees from “government-sponsored, race-based discrimination.” Trump also threatened to halt aid to the country and—like South African-born Elon Musk—has amplified claims about land being taken from white farmers. The South African government has denied that the recently passed law Trump cited is linked to race.
