President Donald Trump has ramped up his efforts to target South Africa as Elon Musk cheers him on. But Republicans say they’re not worried U.S. policy is being influenced by Musk’s personal grievances.
“It’s totally within the president’s prerogative to address human rights issues,” Rep. Tim Burchett told NOTUS. “I don’t have a problem with it.”
The U.S. has sparred with South Africa over its alignment with Russia and China and its criticism over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. But Trump and his allies have focused more on the nation’s handling of race and its treatment of Afrikaners, a South African ethnic group descended from Dutch, French and German settlers.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday, repeating a near-identical message from last week that promised to cut off aid: “A massive Human Rights VIOLATION is happening, for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it - We will act.”
The administration’s focus on South Africa has escalated over the past week. Two days after Musk accused the country of promoting “openly racist ownership laws,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would not attend the G20 summit being hosted in South Africa because the country was promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
On Friday, Trump froze all aid to South Africa to punish the country for its new laws that address the racial inequality in land ownership created by its colonial-era apartheid government. Trump also instructed his administration to admit Afrikaner farmers into the United States as refugees over what he has falsely alleged is South Africa’s government-sponsored race-based discrimination. (Other refugees remain shut out from the U.S.)
Democrats raised alarm about Musk’s involvement in shaping these policies.
“What we’re seeing right now is, once again, the influence of a single billionaire on U.S. government policy — in this case, foreign policy,” Rep. Sarah McBride told NOTUS. “Democrats will continue to stand up against the influence, the undue influence in both domestic and foreign policy of wealthy donors.”
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, a key Democratic ally to South Africa whose father was also personal friends with Nelson Mandela, told NOTUS that he’s in talks with the South African embassy about how Democrats can best advocate for the African country. He added that he’d be introducing a bill to put Republicans on the record for their actions.
“It is fundamentally wrong for Mr. Elon Musk to try to break up the agreements to promote Africans to have equity in their own country,” Jackson said. “We should respect [South Africa] as a sovereign nation. We should respect the will of their people.”
But Republicans brushed off any concerns about Musk’s involvement.
“I don’t know if you can put that as a personal grievance,” Rep. Young Kim told NOTUS of Musk’s criticism of the South African government. “I don’t know exactly what personal dealings Elon Musk has.”
Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that Musk’s approach to governance is rarely ever personal.
“Elon would be the biggest person you would think to say, ‘We need an EV mandate. Why would you get rid of the EV mandate?’ But he’s not that,” Mast said. “Elon’s concern is not personal benefit. It’s not, ‘How do I enrich myself off of this?’ That’s never been how he’s acted.”
Republicans told NOTUS last week that they were eager for action on South Africa — although they spoke more about its alliances than its internal politics.
Rep. Michael McCaul, a former Foreign Affairs Committee chair, alleged that South Africa was “leaning more towards our adversary,” referring to South Africa conducting joint military exercises with China and Russia in 2023. He also told NOTUS that actions against South Africa are a worthy risk even if they create a vacuum that China and Russia, close South African allies, could fill.
“This is like the tariffs,” McCaul said. “You have to make a statement.”
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, spoke with Musk last week after Trump threatened to cut off aid and denied the government was wrongly confiscating land.
Meanwhile, South Africa is considering a conciliatory move for Musk, according to a report from Semafor, by allowing his companies to invest in the country without complying with the nation’s Black empowerment rules.
The South African Embassy in the U.S. did not respond to a request for comment.
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Tinashe Chingarande is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.