Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

{{ subpage.title }}

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looks on during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 21, 2025.

REUTERS/Yves Herman

GZERO Explains: Why is Trump fighting South Africa over its land policy?

President Donald Trump has said that he will cut all US funding to South Africa, accusing the government there of confiscating land and “treating certain classes of people very badly,” an allegation South African President Cyril Ramaphosa denies.

What is Trump talking about? Last month, South Africa passed the Expropriation Act, which aims to address severe racial imbalances in land ownership. Thirty years after the fall of Apartheid, three quarters of private farmland is held by whites, who comprise less than 10% of the population. The new act repeals an Apartheid era law that was used to expropriate Black farmers.

Read moreShow less

Elon Musk departs the office of Senate Minority Whip and incoming Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune (R-SD) after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

GZERO Explains: How will DOGE work?

What is it? Donald Trump used an executive order to turn the little-known US Digital Service, a unit created within the Executive Office of the President under the Obama administration to enhance government technology, into the Department of Government Efficiency – or DOGE. Led by billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE intends to gut what he views as a bloated, ineffectual federal bureaucracy and to recommend budget cuts. The department also plans to improve government software and technology. The executive order includes a termination date of July 4, 2026 – America’s 250th anniversary.
Read moreShow less

Subscribe to our free newsletter, GZERO Daily

Latest