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

Leaders from the world’s most influential economies are converging on Johannesburg this weekend for Africa’s first-ever G20 summit, an event marred by the unprecedented boycott of the United States delegation under President Donald Trump’s direction.

The summit will host representatives from 42 countries, but the absence of the United States—a founding G20 member scheduled to assume the group’s rotating presidency—has overshadowed the gathering’s ambitious agenda focused on climate resilience, debt sustainability for developing nations, and addressing growing global inequality.

Trump has publicly rejected South Africa’s leadership of the G20, citing alleged discrimination against the country’s white farmers as his reason for boycotting. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has directly challenged these claims, stating he informed Trump that such information is “completely false.”

The U.S. withdrawal extends beyond Trump’s personal absence. Last Friday, the president announced that no American officials would attend the summit, following earlier patterns when Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the G20 foreign ministers meeting and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent missed the finance ministers gathering. The administration has also reportedly urged other member nations to reject adopting the traditional “Leaders Declaration” at the summit’s conclusion, potentially undermining the group’s ability to signal multilateral consensus.

Despite these challenges, Johannesburg has prepared extensively for the high-profile event. City workers have undertaken comprehensive street cleaning operations, while roads have been adorned with colorful G20 banners, billboards, and fresh flower displays to welcome the international delegations.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola acknowledged Tuesday that while the U.S. absence raises legitimate concerns about the summit’s effectiveness, it also presents “an opportunity to send a clear message that the world can move on” without American participation—though he admitted such progress “will not be a walk in the park.”

Lamola downplayed the significance of various leaders’ absences, noting that “100% attendance of heads of states” has never been achieved at G20 summits. Chinese President Xi Jinping is also skipping the event, sending Premier Li Qiang to represent China, continuing a pattern of limited international travel this year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likewise be absent, though for different reasons. An active International Criminal Court arrest warrant related to Russia’s war on Ukraine legally obligates South Africa, as a signatory to the Rome Statute, to arrest Putin should he enter the country. This legal obligation previously caused Putin to miss last year’s BRICS summit in South Africa.

Despite these high-profile absences, South Africa has seized its G20 presidency to advocate for addressing challenges facing developing nations. A significant focus has been securing financing for countries confronting severe climate change impacts, with independent experts estimating such efforts would require approximately $1 trillion annually by 2030.

On Tuesday, an expert panel recommended that the International Monetary Fund and G20 nations adopt broad measures to refinance debt for developing countries. The African Union, now a G20 member, plans to advocate for African nations facing the dual pressures of climate challenges and financial constraints, according to Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission.

Brian Kagoro, managing director at the Open Society Foundations think tank, characterized the U.S. boycott as “regrettable” but emphasized that the summit’s substantive outcomes for Africa remain paramount. “If anything, the situation underscores the need to accelerate global governance reform, ensuring that all regions, including Africa, have a meaningful voice in setting global priorities,” Kagoro noted.

Despite the U.S. absence, other major economies—including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—have affirmed their support for the summit, with their leaders expected to arrive in South Africa on Friday ahead of the two-day meeting. Numerous bilateral talks are anticipated on the sidelines of the main summit events.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also confirmed his participation, stating last week while visiting Angola: “I will be there and I am totally committed to work within the G20, to move all the key reforms that are essential in the international financial system and to create the conditions for the development agenda, particularly in Africa, to be sustainable.”