Afrikaner Access Soars Amid Trump’s Policy Shift

The Newest V.I.P.s at the U.S. Embassy in South Africa? Afrikaners.The white descendants of Europeans who colonized the country are getting greater access to American officials this year, both in Washington and in Pretoria.White South Africans rallied in support of President Trump in February outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.Credit...Joao Silva/The New York TimesDec. 6, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ETWhen Theo de Jager, a prominent white South African farm organizer, went to Washington this year with two other Afrikaner leaders, he said he was surprised by the welcome they received.They met with people from Vice President JD Vance’s office. State Department officials asked him about an article he had written seven years ago about the murder of white farmers in South Africa.Back then, few in the Trump administration showed interest in his thoughts on the issue. Now, they seem to be all ears, he said.Since President Trump took office this year, he has ordered a halt to American aid to South Africa, imposed 30 percent tariffs on South African imports and, last month, said the country would not be welcome at the Group of 20 summit in Florida next year.Mr. Trump has cited the persecution of Afrikaners as the reason for those decisions, falsely asserting that white descendants of Europeans who colonized South Africa are victims of genocide. He has also rewritten immigration policy to make it virtually impossible for anyone to gain refugee status in the United States except Afrikaners.With Mr. Trump embracing their cause more than any of his predecessors in recent history, Afrikaners have had access to American officials as never before, both in Washington and in Pretoria. They are invited to social gatherings in South Africa, where they can bend the ears of U.S. Embassy staff. They encounter American diplomats and lawmakers seeking feedback on policy proposals, and meet with White House officials in Washington, potentially influencing the administration’s views on South Africa.The U.S. Embassy has started sharing social media posts written in Afrikaans, the language of Afrikaners.The State Department said, “U.S. diplomats routinely engage a variety of civil society organizations and associations in furtherance of U.S. foreign policy priorities.”ImageAfrikaners checking in for their departure to the United States at O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg in February.Credit...Ilan Godfrey for The New York Times“The extent of our access and engagement has increased tremendously in the past 10 months,” said Jaco Kleynhans, an official with the Solidarity Movement, an Afrikaner rights organization.Mr. Kleynhans said he speaks weekly with U.S. government officials, mostly directly in Washington. He and other Afrikaners also speak to embassy officials in Pretoria to exchange information and share their thoughts on issues like murders on farms and tariffs, he said.Patrick Gaspard, U.S. ambassador to South Africa from 2013 to 2016, said that during his term, the Afrikaner organizations were “such a sidelight, like, peripheral, marginal set of actors, who had no real sway and influence.” He added, “It’s kind of astonishing for me to see just how much oxygen they’re getting right now with Trump world.”Todd Haskell, who did two stints as an American diplomat in South Africa, most recently as the consul general in Cape Town until last year, said he had no vivid memories of meeting Afrikaner rights organizations. Back then, the U.S. mission focused on issues like health, economic development, and South Africa’s stance on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza — not Afrikaner rights.The annual Independence Day celebration at the United States Embassy in South Africa this year included a larger-than-usual contingent of Afrikaners, Mr. Kleynhans said.Gerhard Papenfus, an Afrikaner business leader who met with White House officials in Washington for the first time this year, also attended his first Independence Day party, where guests were served Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Budweiser and other American treats. “Here’s an administration that reaches out and says, ‘We hear you,’” he said of Mr. Trump.ImageSince President Trump took office this year, he has ordered a halt to American aid to South Africa, imposed 30 percent tariffs on South African imports and said the country would not be welcome at the Group of 20 summit in Florida next year.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesAfrikaners’ newfound popularity in Washington has fueled tension at home. Some South African lawmakers have called for some Afrikaner organizations to be investigated for treason, accusing them of spreading misinformation damaging to the relationship with the United States, arguably the country’s most important economic partner.Most foreign missions in Pretoria are reluctant to engage with Afrikaners publicly because they cannot be seen with somebody the South African government “regards as an enemy,” said Kallie Kriel, the chief executive of AfriForum, a leading Afrikaner activist organization.As Mr. Kriel sees it, the Trump administration has no problem embracing Afrikaners, because the South African government has openly engaged with American enemies, including Iran. “The U.S. at the moment, it’s in their interest not to have a good relationship with South Africa,” he said.Afrikaner groups were never barred from the U.S. Embassy, and they attended social gatherings under previous administrations, both democratic and Republican. But the level of interest under Mr. Trump has surprised even some Afrikaners.ImageWhite South Africans supporting Mr. Trump in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria in February.Credit...Marco Longari/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMr. de Jager, the farm organizer, said that in Pretoria, American officials had started to become familiar with his name. At a recent event at the German ambassador’s residence, he said he was introduced to a U.S. diplomat.“Oh, you were the one who wrote the letter,” he recalled the diplomat’s saying, referring to an open letter that Mr. de Jager wrote to Mr. Trump after he issued an executive order this year granting Afrikaners refugee status.“It’s good to see that at least somebody in the embassy read it,” Mr. de Jager said he responded.“No, no,” he said the diplomat told him. “It was also read on the other side of the Atlantic.”John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times, covering a wide range of events and trends that influence and shape the lives of ordinary people across southern Africa.SKIP