President Donald Trump launched into a long, winding response aboard Air Force One after a reporter asked him about his administration’s decision to welcome white South Africans as refugees.
The question focused on the U.S. chartering a flight for dozens of white Afrikaners—descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa—while the Trump administration continued to block many other refugee groups.
When asked about the controversial move, Trump quickly got defensive, calling the question “nasty” and launching into a tirade about what he claims is a hidden crisis in South Africa.
“I think if I see people in distress, I don’t care what color, what they look like, what anything—their size, their height, their eyes. I don’t care,” Trump said.
He then repeated his belief—without offering proof—that white farmers in South Africa are being hunted down.
“I think that, from all evidence, the farmers in South Africa are being treated brutally. And it’s been reported, and nobody wants to cover it,” he said. “But they happen to be white. And if they were Black, I’d do the exact same thing.”
Trump described the situation as “genocide,” even though human rights groups and South Africa’s government strongly deny that.
“So if it’s a genocide, that’s terrible. And I happen to believe it could very well be,” he said.
The U.S. had recently chartered a flight for dozens of Afrikaners—a white ethnic group descended from Dutch settlers—under Trump’s direction. At the same time, his administration has blocked refugees from war-torn countries like Syria and Sudan.
Trump insisted his decision wasn’t about race.
“We treat people very well when we see there’s a genocide going on,” he said.
When the reporter pressed him, Trump snapped: “I’m not looking for reporting because, believe me, it’s easier for me not to do anything. It’s a lot easier because I don’t get nasty questions like that.”
He added, “But the fact is that we’re about saving lives, and we’re gonna do that. So we’ve made a home, and we’ll make a home for other people that are treated badly, no matter what their color.”
Listen to Trump’s remarks below:
Trump Rants About White Genocide on Air Force One — Lashes Out at ‘Nasty’ Question https://t.co/V1cAME5Be7 pic.twitter.com/gN3NP6TGMX
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) May 16, 2025
South Africa’s government has denied Trump’s claims.
“It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy,” South African government spokesman Chrispin Phiri told The New York Times.
Trump has openly criticized South Africa for siding with Iran and for its legal actions against Israel at the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza.
The refugee move also drew attention because one of Trump’s top allies, Elon Musk—who is South African by birth—has echoed similar unfounded claims of genocide against Afrikaners.
