Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations in Cape Town next week, according to people familiar with his plans, deepening the rift between the United States and South Africa over policies the Trump administration believes are anti-American.
The decision to forgo such a major economic gathering is highly unusual for a Treasury secretary, particularly one who was confirmed to his post three weeks ago.
It follows a boycott of a similar meeting of foreign ministers this week in Johannesburg by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr. Rubio said he was skipping the meetings because he did not want to “waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”
Mr. Trump has indicated that he sees little value in multilateral meetings like the Group of 20 and prefers to hold bilateral negotiations with other nations. The theme for the meetings this year is “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” which the Trump administration considers at odds with its views on climate change and diversity policies.
The gathering would have been Mr. Bessent’s first opportunity to meet with his global counterparts and have talks with top financial officials from Europe, China and Russia.
The group’s meetings have been awkward in recent years because of tension between Russia and Western allies, including the United States, over the war in Ukraine. But the Trump administration has made clear in recent days that it intended to take a different approach with Russia as it looks to negotiate an end to the war.
Mr. Trump suggested this week that Ukraine might have been responsible for Russia’s invasion and on Wednesday referred to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as a “Dictator without Elections.”
The boycott by Mr. Bessent will come as a disappointment and a surprise to South Africa. An official from its Department of International Relations and Cooperation posted on social media this week that the Treasury secretary was expected to attend the meetings in Cape Town.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Bessent had no comment on Wednesday.
The diplomatic tension between the United States and South Africa emerged as a surprising turn of events this year.
Earlier this month Mr. Trump ordered that all foreign assistance to South Africa be halted and said his administration would prioritize the resettling of white, “Afrikaner refugees” into the United States because of what he called actions by the country’s government that “racially disfavored landowners.”
Mr. Trump’s recent comments were in reference to a policy that President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa signed into law in January.
The law, known as the Expropriation Act, repeals an apartheid-era law and allows the government in certain instances to acquire privately held land in the public interest without paying compensation — something that can be done only after a justification process subject to judicial review.
