WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a controversial moment during a White House meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, U.S. President Donald Trump presented a misidentified image as supposed evidence of mass killings of white South African farmers—a claim widely discredited as a far-right conspiracy theory.
Trump displayed a screenshot of a Reuters video taken in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, where humanitarian workers were handling the aftermath of clashes involving Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Despite the image’s clear Congolese context, Trump incorrectly claimed, “These are all white farmers that are being buried.”
The footage, originally filmed by Reuters journalist Djaffar Al Katanty on February 3, was part of verified coverage of conflict in eastern Congo. Katanty expressed dismay at the misuse: “President Trump used what I filmed in DRC to try to convince President Ramaphosa that in his country, white people are being killed by Black people.”
The image Trump referenced had been embedded in a blog post by American Thinker, a conservative outlet. The article, while discussing tensions in South Africa and Congo, did not identify the image’s origin but linked it to a YouTube video credited to Reuters. The magazine’s managing editor, Andrea Widburg, acknowledged that Trump had “misidentified the image.”
During the televised Oval Office meeting, Trump interrupted to push a narrative of “genocide” against white South Africans—an unproven claim that South African officials have consistently denied.
Ramaphosa’s visit was aimed at repairing strained diplomatic ties, but the moment highlighted the ongoing tension fueled by misinformation and racially charged rhetoric.
