The highly anticipated visit of United States Vice President JD Vance to Kenya has been called off after President Donald Trump announced that no American officials would attend the upcoming G20 Summit in South Africa.
The 2025 G20 Johannesburg summit, set for 22–23 November, will be the first held on the African continent. Vance had planned to travel to Nairobi immediately afterwards, in what officials had described as a sign of “deepening relations between President William Ruto’s administration and Washington.”
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, writing: “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. Afrikaners are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No US Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida.”
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi confirmed that Vance’s planned visit to Kenya was directly affected.
“Since the Vice President was to have a roundtrip that would have culminated with his visit to Kenya after the G20 Summit in South Africa, his trip has now become untenable. But this has nothing to do with Kenya. President Trump’s statement is specific to South Africa, not Kenya.”
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr Korir Sing’oei echoed this explanation: “The planned trip to Kenya is likely to be impacted as the two visits were related: G20, then Nairobi.”
The cancellation comes as a setback for Nairobi, which had hoped to use the visit to reinforce US-Kenya cooperation on trade, security, and technology.
President Ruto visited the White House earlier this year, producing investment commitments and discussions on Kenya’s regional role, building on his historic State visit hosted by then-President Joe Biden in May 2024.
Mr Mudavadi emphasised that bilateral ties remain strong. “The State visit by President William Ruto to Washington in May last year elevated the relationship to a strategic partnership, reaffirming Kenya’s position as a key ally of the United States in Africa,” he said.
Despite the delay, Kenyan officials remain confident the visit will be rescheduled. A senior official said: “We continue to value our partnership with the United States and are confident that our ongoing engagements will not be derailed by scheduling changes.”
