Tantrum Diplomacy Returns: Trump Boycotts South Africa’s G20
Years after I warned that global summits were descending into shouting matches, Trump’s boycott of the G20 proves little's changed - multilateralism gives way once again to grievance and grandstanding
In my CNN Opinion piece back in 2019, I warned that global summits like the G20 were becoming showcases for what I called “tantrum diplomacy” — where the loudest or most bullying leader sets the tone. Fast forward to today, and little seems to have changed. President Trump’s decision to boycott the G20 summit in South Africa, citing unsubstantiated claims of “white genocide,” underscores how the spirit of multilateral cooperation has again been replaced by grievance, posturing, and performative outrage.
In response, South Africa struck a notably calm and confident tone, saying it will hold its head high, continue with the work, and not allow itself to be derailed by the boycott or by Trump’s unfounded and insulting claims. “South Africa’s focus remains on its positive global contributions. Drawing on our own journey from racial and ethnic division to democracy, our nation is uniquely positioned to champion within the G20 a future of genuine solidarity, where shared prosperity bridges deep inequalities. We look forward to hosting a successful G20 Leaders’ Summit.”
From here in Thailand, I connect the dots on what this means for the future of global diplomacy — and for South Africa, suddenly thrust into the spotlight as it hosts a divided world.
U.S. government officials will not attend this year’s G20 summit in South Africa, President Donald Trump said Friday, as the president continues to rail against the host country’s alleged discrimination of its white citizens. Trump had previously said he wouldn’t attend the summit — a meeting of world leaders to discuss economic development — with Vice President JD Vance slated to attend in the president’s absence. But the boycott would effectively pull the U.S.’s presence from the conference entirely. “Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.” Trump has continued to condemn the country for what he says is discrimination against its white population, claiming earlier this year that the country was committing “genocide” against white citizens. But South African officials have continued to rebuff the claims. “Have they told you where that is, Mr. President?” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said earlier this year. “I’d like to know where that is, because this I’ve never seen.” The Trump administration has also prioritized refugee admissions for Afrikaners. Each year, a different G20 member hosts the summit to discuss a theme of their choosing, with the U.S. on deck to host next year’s meeting at Trump’s property in Miami. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said earlier this year that he’d boycott the G20 summit in Johannesburg because of “bad things” happening in the country, panning the summit’s focus on “solidarity, equality, & sustainability.” “In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio said on X in February - Politico
“The G20 is supposed to be the time and place for multilateral consensus. Instead, it’s become more of a display of the tantrum diplomacy leaders have embraced – whoever screams the loudest or bullies the hardest is permitted to get their way” - from my CNN Opinion piece from June 2019. Many years later, during Trump 2.0 it seems not much has changed. You can read the full OpEd here
The European Union will no longer issue multi-entry visas to Russian citizens residing in the country, its latest move to raise pressure on Moscow over its nearly four-year war on Ukraine. “From now on, Russian nationals will no longer be able to receive multiple-entry visas. This means Russian nationals will have to apply for a new visa each time they plan to travel to the EU,” Brussels said in a statement. The decision was taken to allow the bloc to conduct “close and frequent scrutiny of applicants to mitigate any potential security risk,” it said. Russian observers criticized the move as one that would affect ordinary citizens with no ties to President Vladimir Putin, including the hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled to Europe to escape political repression or military mobilization. The EU first suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia in 2022 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, making it harder and more expensive for Russians to obtain travel documents. Visa applications submitted by Russians will be subject to “enhanced verification” and “elevated levels of scrutiny,” said European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner. Exceptions will apply only in limited humanitarian cases, such as for independent journalists, dissidents and human rights defenders. Russians who also hold citizenship of an EU member state will not be affected. According to the European Commission, Russian citizens have received around 552,000 Schengen visas in 2025, nearly 100,000 more than last year but far below the 4 million issued in 2019. Most visas were granted by Italy, France and Spain, while the Baltic states have imposed near-total entry bans on Russian travelers - Moscow Times
The Kremlin has had to dismiss reports that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had “fallen out of favor” with President Vladimir Putin amid speculation that Lavrov’s diplomacy led to the cancellation of planned peace talks between Moscow and Washington over Ukraine. “There is nothing true in these reports,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. “Lavrov is certainly continuing to serve as foreign minister.” Reports that Putin was dissatisfied with Lavrov’s performance emerged after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly called off his planned summit with the Russian leader in Budapest last month. The Financial Times claimed the meeting was shelved following what it described as “a tense call” between Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adding that “officials were struck by the intransigence of Lavrov….Lavrov is clearly tired and seems to think he has better things to do than meet or engage with the United States, whatever President Putin may want,” a person familiar with the matter told the Financial Times. Following the summit’s cancellation, Lavrov was notably the only permanent member of the Security Council absent from its Tuesday meeting, during which Putin instructed officials to draft proposals for resuming nuclear tests. The Kommersant business daily, citing unidentified sources, reported that the minister’s absence from the Security Council meeting was “coordinated.” In addition, Lavrov will no longer lead Russia’s delegation to the upcoming G20 summit — a role that will instead be taken by Maxim Oreshkin, deputy chief of the presidential administration. Nezygar, a Telegram channel with 400,000 subscribers, cited unidentified sources as saying that Putin held “a serious conversation“ with Lavrov after his call with Rubio.
Kyiv and many Ukrainian regions faced extensive power cuts and outages as crews struggled to repair infrastructure battered by Russian air attacks. Power was set to be reduced in most regions for eight to 16 hours on November 9, state energy provider Ukrenergo warned. “It is difficult to recall such a [large] number of direct strikes on energy facilities since the beginning of the invasion,” company spokeswoman Svitlana Grynchuk told Ukrainian media on November 8. Even before the onset of cold weather across Ukraine, Russia had intensified its campaign to take out the country’s power grid, as well as natural gas facilities and pipelines, in an effort to freeze and demoralize Ukrainians. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Russia had targeted substations that provided power to two nuclear facilities. “These were not accidental, but well-planned strikes. Russia is deliberately jeopardizing Europe’s nuclear safety,” he said in a post to X. He called for an urgent meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog to respond to the “unacceptable risks.” Russia launched more than 450 drones and 45 missiles in the November 8 barrage, Ukrainian officials said - RFE/RL
President Trump has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from sanctions the United States has imposed on countries buying Russian oil after meeting with the Hungarian prime minister at the White House on Friday. The extension was part of a series of agreements that had come out of the meeting between Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, according to a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the agreement. The sanctions are aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war in Ukraine. The exemption marks a victory for Mr. Orban, a populist autocrat and longtime ally of Mr. Trump’s who is facing one of the toughest re-election battles of his career. Mr. Orban announced the deal on social media shortly after the White House meeting. Hungary also agreed to purchase liquefied natural gas from the United States, according to a fact sheet released by the State Department on Friday, with contracts totaling about $600 million - NYT
More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire. The latest jump in deaths occurred as more bodies are recovered in the devastated Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, and as other bodies are identified. The toll also includes Palestinians killed by strikes that Israel says target remaining militants. Israel on Saturday returned the remains of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza, according to hospital officials there, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He was identified as Lior Rudaeff, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that Rudaeff was born in Argentina. Also Saturday, Israeli settlers staged two attacks on Palestinian farmers and others in the occupied West Bank as settler violence reaches new highs during this year’s olive harvest - AP
Israeli settlers have been ramping up their assaults on Palestinian farmers and their lands during this year’s olive harvest, with the UN saying at least 126 attacks have been recorded since September in 70 towns and villages, with more than 4,000 olive trees and saplings vandalised or uprooted - Al Jazeera
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the BBC of being “purposefully dishonest” over the broadcaster’s depiction of the 2021 U.S. Capitol Hill insurrection in a Panorama documentary. The British public broadcaster has been under fire in recent days over allegations that it misled viewers by splicing footage from different portions of U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on Jan. 6, 2021 — the day that protesters breached the U.S. Congress. In remarks to the Telegraph published late Friday, Leavitt criticized the BBC for showing “selectively edited” footage of Trump’s speech in the Panorama program on the event, adding that the broadcaster “should no longer be worth the time” on the TVs of U.K. viewers. “This purposefully dishonest, selectively edited clip by the BBC is further evidence that they are total, 100 percent fake news,” Leavitt told the newspaper. U.K. taxpayers are being “forced to foot the bill for a Leftist propaganda machine,” Leavitt said. In response, a spokesperson for the BBC told media outlets that the broadcaster’s editorial guidelines and standards committee explicitly considered differing views and opinions of its coverage. “While we don’t comment on leaked documents, when the BBC receives feedback it takes it seriously and considers it carefully,” the spokesperson said - Politico
The journals…
