South African ambassador ‘no longer welcome’ in US, Rubio says
The US is expelling South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he is “no longer welcome in our great country”.
In a post on X, Rubio accused Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool of hating America and President Donald Trump.
He described him as a “race-baiting politician”, adding “we have nothing to discuss with him”.
The rare move marks the latest development in rising tensions between the two countries.
The BBC has contacted the South African embassy in Washington DC for comment.
In his post on Friday, Rubio linked to an article from the right-wing outlet Breitbart that quoted some of Rasool’s recent remarks made during an online lecture about the Trump administration.
“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”.
The post from Rubio came as he departed Canada from a meeting with foreign ministers.
Ties between the US and South Africa have been deteriorating since Trump took office.
The US president signed an executive order last month that freezes assistance to South Africa. The order references “egregious actions” by South Africa and cites “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners – those who descended from Dutch settlers.
The order also references a new law, the Expropriation Act, that the order claims targets Afrikaners by allowing the government to 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,” according to a statement from the White House.
The government in South Africa denies its law is related to race, the Associated Press reported.
A fact sheet from the White House states the country “blatantly discriminates against ethnic minority descendants of settler groups”.
While lower-ranking diplomats are sometimes expelled, it’s highly unusual in the US for it to happen to a more senior official like a foreign ambassador, the Associated Press reported, noting neither the US nor Russia took such actions against one another even amid tensions during the Cold War.
Rasool previously served as the country’s ambassador to the US from 2010 to 2015 before being tapped again for the post in 2025.
He was born and grew up in Cape Town. When he was nine, he and his family were forcibly removed from an apartment that was declared only for white people. As he grew older, he became more interested in politics and said the eviction was a significant moment in his upbringing that guided his future.
