The United States has expelled South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio declaring that Ebrahim Rasool is “no longer welcome in our great country.”
In a post on X, Rubio accused Rasool of hating both America and President Donald Trump, describing the diplomat as a “race-baiting politician.”
The decision, announced on Friday, marks a rare diplomatic move and highlights the growing tensions between the two nations.
South Africa’s presidency described the decision on Saturday as “regrettable,” adding that the country remained committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with America.
Rubio’s post included a link to an article from the right-wing outlet Breitbart, which quoted remarks Rasool made during an online lecture on the Trump administration.
“What Donald Trump is launching is an assault on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilising a supremacism against the incumbency, at home… and abroad,” Rasool said at the event.
He added that the MAGA movement was a response “to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the USA in which the voting electorate… is projected to become 48 percent white.”
Rubio responded by declaring Rasool “PERSONA NON GRATA,” invoking the diplomatic term for an unwelcome person. The announcement came as Rubio departed Canada following a meeting with foreign ministers.
Relations between Washington and Pretoria have soured since Trump assumed office. Last month, the US president signed an executive order freezing assistance to South Africa. The order cited “egregious actions” by the country and accused it of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners—descendants of Dutch settlers.
South Africa has rejected the allegations. The order also referenced the Expropriation Act, which it claimed allowed the South African government to confiscate private land from Afrikaners.
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“As long as South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent disfavored minority farmers, the United States will stop aid and assistance to the country,” according to a statement from the White House.
The South African government has repeatedly insisted that the law is not race-based, a stance also reported by the Associated Press. However, a White House fact sheet accused the country of “blatantly” discriminating against “ethnic minority descendants of settler groups.”
According to BBC, diplomatic expulsions of senior officials such as ambassadors are rare in US foreign relations. The Associated Press noted that even at the height of Cold War tensions, Washington and Moscow refrained from such moves.
Rasool previously held the ambassadorial post from 2010 to 2015 and was reappointed in 2025. Born in Cape Town, he and his family were forcibly removed from their home during apartheid when he was nine—a moment he described as pivotal in shaping his political views.
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