Leaders press on with G20 summit in South Africa that won’t have US and Trump

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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Leaders and delegates from the world’s richest nations and top developing countries are gathering this weekend for the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, an event overshadowed by the boycott of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.

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Africa’s first G20 summit will see representatives of 42 countries, but not the United States, a founding member of the group and one that’s supposed to be taking over its rotating presidency in Johannesburg.

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Trump has denounced South Africa’s leadership of the G20 and said he would not attend, citing alleged discrimination of the country’s white farmers. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he’s told Trump that information about the alleged persecution of Afrikaners is “completely false.”

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Last Friday, Trump also said that no U.S. officials would attend the gathering. The U.S. boycott has dominated discussions _ more so than the summit’s agenda, which includes climate resilience, debt sustainability for poor nations and growing inequality.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year skipped the G20 meeting of foreign ministers, followed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who missed the finance ministers meeting. The U.S. has also urged member nations not to adopt a “Leaders Declaration” at the end of the summit, which would signal a multilateral consensus.

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Still, Johannesburg has been a hive of activity ahead of the summit — workers have undertaken a massive clean-up of the streets and bright flowers have been planted along some city roads, adorned with colorful G20 banners and billboards.

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An empty chair

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While the hosts have admitted that the U.S. absence raises concerns about the summit’s ultimate success, South Africa’s foreign minister, Ronald Lamola, said Tuesday it was also an opportunity “to send a clear message that the world can move on” without the U.S. — but that it won’t be easy.

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“It will not be a walk in the park, but when there is global consensus, we can be able to find persuasive means to enable the world to function,” Lamola said.

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He downplayed both Trump’s absence and those of other heads of state who are not making it to Johannesburg, saying that a “100% attendance of heads of states” has never happened.

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Lamola also cited China’s Xi Jinping who has not been travelling much this year, instead sending Premier Li Qiang to represent him — including in South Africa.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be absent from the summit as there is an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

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The warrant obliges South Africa, a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court, to arrest Putin if he steps on its territory. Putin also missed the summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in South Africa in 2023 for the same reason.

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Advancing an inclusive agenda

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South Africa has used its presidency of the G20 to push for action to address the challenges of poor nations — such as securing financing to help countries facing the devastating effects of climate change, something independent experts estimate would require about $1 trillion a year by 2030.