Tensions flared at a recent White House press briefing as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Donald Trump’s controversial claims about attacks on white farmers in South Africa. The remarks followed a meeting between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, during which Trump presented a video featuring white crosses that he claimed symbolized murdered white farmers.
When NBC reporter Yamiche Alcindor challenged the video’s authenticity—suggesting the crosses depicted a symbolic protest rather than actual graves—Leavitt fired back, calling the question “ridiculous” and reaffirming the administration’s position that the video was a representation of real victims of racial violence in rural South Africa.
President Ramaphosa, caught off guard by the video during the meeting, responded that he was unfamiliar with the specific sites shown. He clarified that while crime affects all South Africans, the country’s land reform laws had not resulted in farm seizures, and the majority of violent crime impacts Black citizens.
The clash at the podium reflects broader global debate over how violence in South Africa is interpreted and politicized—particularly when used to justify foreign policy stances or spark international controversy.