Published: 12:14, May 21, 2025
US to skip G20 summit in South Africa
By Xinhua
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the US Department of State on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 20, 2025. (PHOTO / AP)

LOS ANGELES - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump will not participate in the upcoming meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders in South Africa later this year.

READ MORE: China urges US to rectify restrictions on advanced Chinese chips

"We decided not to participate in this year's G20 hosted by South Africa, either at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or at the level of the president, and this was largely due to some of these issues that they put on their agenda and which, as we think, they do not reflect the priorities of this administration," Rubio told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

READ MORE: US urged to stop politicizing COVID-19 origins tracing

Relations between South Africa and the United States worsened after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act into law in January. In March, the United States expelled then South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, further straining their relations.

Ramaphosa is currently visiting the United States, and is scheduled to meet with Trump on issues concerning trade and bilateral ties.