US declares South African ambassador persona non grata over Trump comments

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, has been declared persona non grata, effectively expelling the diplomat following controversial comments about President Donald Trump.

In a strongly worded post on X, Rubio stated, “South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country. Emrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS. We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”

The declaration came after Rasool reportedly said at a foreign policy seminar earlier Friday that Trump is “mobilizing a supremacism against the incumbency” both domestically and internationally. Rubio’s post included a link to a Breitbart article covering these remarks.

The State Department has not yet released an official statement regarding the diplomatic expulsion, and the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C., has not immediately responded to the announcement.

This development marks a significant escalation in already strained U.S.-South Africa relations. Last month, President Trump signed an executive order cutting U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing the country’s land expropriation law, its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, and strengthening ties with Iran.

The diplomatic tension also follows public criticism from South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, who now leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk has accused the South African government of implementing “openly racist ownership laws” and suggested white citizens face discrimination.

A persona non grata declaration is one of the most serious diplomatic measures a country can take against foreign representatives, effectively requiring them to leave the host country.