South Africa’s President Trolls Trump During White House Meeting: ‘I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you’
In a blunt exchange at the White House on Wednesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took a sharp jab at former U.S. President Donald Trump after the U.S. accepted a lavish jet from Qatar.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a plane to give you,” Ramaphosa told Trump during an Oval Office meeting. The comment came after Trump defended Qatar’s gift of a $400 million Boeing 747, which the U.S. plans to convert into a new Air Force One.
“I wish you did,” Trump replied, grinning. “I would take it. If your country offered the United States Air Force a plane, I would take it.”
“Okay,” Ramaphosa answered, laughing.
The moment followed a tense exchange sparked by Trump’s claims that white farmers in South Africa are being murdered in large numbers. Trump showed Ramaphosa a series of videos, news clippings, and photos he said proved a “white genocide.”
NBC reporter Peter Alexander then tried to question Trump about the Qatari jet. “Mr. President, the Pentagon announced that it would be accepting a Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One…” Alexander began before Trump interrupted, calling him an “idiot” and accusing NBC of trying to distract from “thousands of people” supposedly being killed in South Africa.
“Why did a country give an airplane to the United States Air Force?… So they could help us out, because we need an Air Force One,” Trump said, jabbing a finger toward Alexander. “That’s what that idiot talks about, after viewing a thing where thousands of people are dead.”
Ramaphosa, attempting to lower the heat, said: “We were taught by Nelson Mandela that whenever there are problems, people need to sit down around a table and talk about them.”
“Well, there are problems,” Trump shot back.
Trump has pushed the idea that South Africa is seizing land from white farmers and ignoring violence against them. But South African officials flatly reject this. The country’s Ministry of International Relations told the U.S. the allegations are baseless. A South African court in February said the idea of a “white genocide” was “clearly imagined” and “not real.”
Official stats show 44 murders on farms in 2024. Of those, only eight victims were farmers.
Despite that, the Trump administration gave refugee status to Afrikaners—white South Africans of Dutch descent—and allowed the first group to enter the U.S. earlier this month. That move stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s hardline stance on asylum seekers from other countries.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has confirmed it will accept Qatar’s gift. “The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. He added that the Air Force would ensure the jet meets all security and mission needs for a presidential aircraft.
But the deal is under the microscope. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Congress would look closely at how the plane will be used. “If and when it’s no longer a hypothetical, I can assure you there will be plenty of scrutiny of whatever that arrangement might look like.”
So far, no one has explained who will pay to upgrade, maintain, or operate the luxury aircraft—dubbed a “palace in the sky.”
Watch the full exchange in the clip below:
🚨NEW: Trump confronts the President of South Africa directly about the murder of white farmers
SA: "I'm sorry I don't have a plane to give you."
TRUMP: "I wish you had a plane to give me, I'd take it." pic.twitter.com/oZV8sZ2cZr— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) May 21, 2025
