What to know about Trump's meeting with South Africa over genocide claims

It was another meeting between President Trump and a foreign president made for the public to see in the Oval Office Wednesday

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to the U.S. to reset relations amid tensions over allegations of white genocide happening in the country

It's something the South African president denies and continue to deny during the meeting

That's when President Trump ordered the lights to be dimmed as he played a video of what he called evidence of ruthless killings of white people happening under his watch

Excuse me, turn the lights down. Turn the lights down. But we're starting with this whiteness. We're cutting the throat of whiteness

The video featured a political leader belonging to the left-wing populist party as he called for the murder of whites in front of a crowd

Burial sites right here. Burial sites. Over a thousand. The video also shows a memorial alongside a road said to represent white farmers murdered in the nation

South Africa's president denounced the actions and rhetoric from within the videos Trump played

calling it separate from any official government policies Our government policy is completely completely against what he was saying

even in the parliament. And they're a small minority party, which is allowed to exist in terms of our constitution

The president also addressed claims of genocide in a video posted to his ex-account prior to his travels to the U.S

But we all know as South Africans, both black and white, that there's no genocide here

After the two presidents spoke and took questions for over an hour

one reporter asked the president if he still believed genocide was occurring in South Africa

Here's how he responded. Well, I haven't made up my mind. I hate to see it from the standpoint of South Africa

but also, you know, I'm trying to save lives. Also in attendance at the meeting was Elon Musk

a native to South Africa, who has also suggested white people are being targeted and killed over

their race. Musk has also publicly criticized South Africa's so-called Black ownership laws

requiring 30 percent of a company to be Black-owned. Musk says these laws prevented him

from launching his satellite company in the country. Bloomberg reported South Africa was

looking to make a deal with Musk specifically to allow Starlink to operate in the country Musk did not speak during the Oval Office meeting but spoke a day prior at the Qatar Economic Forum over the issue

First of all, you should be questioning why are there racist laws in South Africa

That's the first problem. Now I'm in this absurd situation where I was born in South Africa, but can't get a license to operate in Starlink because I'm not black

Does that seem right to you? During the meeting, an invited guest from South Africa, businessman Johan Rupert, chimed in on the issue, saying Starlink should be welcomed and could potentially help as a resource for tackling the country's crime and gang problem

We have too many deaths, but it's across the board. It's not only white farmers

It's across the board. We need technological help. We need Starlink at every little police station

Tensions here at home between Republicans and Democrats over the situation in South Africa

recently ramped up after Trump took in dozens of white South Africans as refugees who said they

were being persecuted in their home country. Those tensions were also on full display during

an exchange between Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Secretary of State Marco Rubio

with Senator Kaine scrutinizing the Trump administration over pausing certain refugee programs on day one of his presidency while still accepting some refugees You are entitled to entrance as a refugee if you demonstrate a well fear of persecution

No, no, you're not entitled. So can you have a different standard based upon the color of somebody's skin? Would that be acceptable

Well, I'm not the one arguing that. Apparently you are because you don't like the fact that they're white. I'm just asking you to say that that would be unacceptable

No, I would say that the United States has a right to pick

choose who they allow into the United States. Even based on the color of somebody's skin? You're the one that's talking about the color of their skin

Because of the allegations of genocide and contention, Trump froze foreign aid to South

Africa in February, with the South African president reiterating he wanted trade talks

to be a focal point of his trip to the U.S. aside from resetting relations. By the end of the meeting

it remained unclear whether President Trump would be attending the G20 summit in South Africa come

November. Prior to the meeting, the Trump administration said he would not be in attendance

due to South Africa not being aligned with U.S. policy. And while Trump did not say if he would

be there, he did say it would be important for the U.S. to have a presence as the meeting wrapped