In a recent and controversial Oval Office meeting, former U.S. President Donald Trump presented what he claimed was photographic evidence of the mass killing of white South African farmers. But in a dramatic turn, the image Trump held up was not from South Africa at all—it was a screenshot taken from Reuters footage filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During the tense meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump displayed a printout of an article featuring an image of body bags. “These are all white farmers that are being buried,” he said.
The article he referenced came from American Thinker, a right-wing blog, and included an uncaptioned image credited to YouTube and ultimately Reuters. However, that image was actually from a February video report showing humanitarian workers handling the aftermath of deadly clashes in the Congolese city of Goma.
The footage was originally captured by Reuters journalist Djaffar Al Katanty following violent confrontations involving Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Speaking to Reuters, Al Katanty expressed shock that Trump used his video out of context. “In front of the whole world, President Trump used my footage to push a false narrative about South Africa,” he said.
Despite the image clearly being unrelated to South Africa, Trump used it to support a long-debunked conspiracy theory about the alleged “genocide” of white farmers in the country. These claims have circulated in far-right online communities for years but have repeatedly been proven false. According to multiple fact-checks, white farmers in South Africa are not being targeted based on race.
The article Trump presented, though misrepresented, did reference growing concerns among some conservative commentators about South Africa’s land reform and racial policies. However, even Andrea Widburg, the American Thinker editor who wrote the post, admitted Trump misidentified the image. Still, she defended the article’s content, saying it highlighted pressure on white South Africans under Ramaphosa’s government.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment on the incident.
Ramaphosa was in Washington attempting to rebuild strained diplomatic relations following months of criticism from Trump on issues ranging from foreign policy to domestic land laws.
The meeting took a bizarre turn when Trump interrupted the discussion to play a video, which he claimed showed proof of white farmer killings—a narrative he labeled “horrible death, death, death.”
Social media erupted after the meeting, with many users pointing out the misleading use of the image. Experts worry such actions could stoke racial tensions and further spread misinformation globally.
This incident raises serious questions about the misuse of media in political discourse and the importance of verifying information—especially when it comes from credible international news sources like Reuters.
