In shock news that came to light overnight, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was effectively being expelled from America.
In a post on X, Rubio referenced an article from the right-wing outlet Breitbart that quoted some of Rasool’s recent remarks made during an online lecture about the Donald Trump administration.
Rubio further stated that Ebrahim Rasool was a “race-baiting politician” who is “no longer welcome in our great country”.
He also accused Rasool of hating America and President Donald Trump, with the shock announcement serving as the latest development in rising tensions between the two countries.
In response, the SA presidency duly noted the expulsion, stating: “The Presidency has noted the regrettable expulsion of South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Ebrahim Rasool.
“The Presidency urges all relevant and impacted stakeholders to maintain the established diplomatic decorum in their engagement with the matter. South Africa remains committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with the United States of America.”
Rasool previously served as the country’s ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015 before being reintroduced to the post in 2025.
As a member of the ANC, Rasool has held various leadership positions in the party, while serving as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2010, and as the 5th Premier of the Western Cape from 2004 to 2008.
YOU CAN SEE THE POST SHARED ABOUT EBRAHIM RASOOL BELOW:
The decision to expel Rasool comes after he allegedly told participants in a foreign policy seminar Friday that Trump is leading a white supremacist movement in America and around the world.
“What Donald Trump is launching is an assault on incumbency, those who are in power, by mobilising a supremacism against the incumbency, at home… and abroad,” Rasool said at the event.
He added that the Maga movement was a response “to very clear data that shows great demographic shifts in the USA in which the voting electorate… is projected to become 48 percent white”.
In response, Rubio called Rasool “PERSONA NON GRATA,” referencing the Latin phrase for “unwelcome person”.
As tensions continue to rise between South Africa and the US, Trump signed an executive order last month that declared a freeze on providing aid and assistance to South Africa.
The order references “egregious actions” by South Africa and cites “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners, while also referencing the Expropriation Act that Trump said was allowing the government to unjustly take away private land.
“As long as South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent disfavored minority farmers, the United States will stop aid and assistance to the country,” read a statement from the White House.
The SA government has repeatedly denied its law is related to race, but a so-called ‘fact sheet’ from the White House states South Africa “blatantly discriminates against ethnic minority descendants of settler groups”.
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