South African envoy first diplomat expelled via X amid Trump’s unorthodox diplomacy
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on February 28, 2025. (AFP Photo)
In what appears to be an unprecedented diplomatic action, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio used social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to declare South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool persona non grata, marking the first documented instance where a high-ranking diplomat has been officially expelled through a social media announcement.
Rubio declared South African diplomat’s expulsion on X Friday, adding “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA,”
Secretary of State linked a Breitbart article about Rasool’s recent comments at a foreign policy seminar where he allegedly stated Trump is “mobilizing a supremacism against the incumbency.”
The declaration of persona non grata, a formal diplomatic measure established in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, has traditionally been communicated through formal diplomatic notes, official press statements, or private channels—not social media platforms.
“This represents a significant departure from diplomatic norms,” said Patrick Gaspard, a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa, who described U.S.-South Africa relations as at their “lowest point” following the announcement.
The South African government responded Saturday in a more traditional manner, with a formal statement noting “the regrettable expulsion” and indicating they “will engage through the diplomatic channel.”
Rasool, who began his second posting to Washington in January, had reportedly been unable to secure routine meetings with State Department officials since President Trump took office.
The State Department has yet to issue a formal diplomatic statement on Rasool’s expulsion, further underscoring the unusual nature of the announcement.
Trump’s “undiplomatic diplomacy” continues in second term
The social media expulsion of Ambassador Rasool is the latest example of what critics call President Trump’s “undiplomatic diplomacy,” a pattern that began during his first administration and has intensified during his second term.
CNN described Trump as “the world’s most undiplomatic diplomat” as early as 2017, when he had contentious phone calls with close allies like Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and made public statements that undermined diplomatic efforts with Mexico, Iran, and European allies.
“His style of diplomacy is very different from his recent predecessors,” former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told CNN in 2017. “He is much more in your face. I suppose the diplomacy of the rest of us is kind of going to have to get used to that.”
Trump’s second term has featured several actions that bypass traditional diplomatic channels. In February 2025, Trump announced during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and relocate its Palestinian population, without consultation through the United Nations or regional bodies—drawing condemnation from the UN Secretary-General and regional powers such as Türkiye.
The administration also moved to close the US Agency for International Development, imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada citing security rather than trade concerns, initiated withdrawal from the World Health Organization, and placed sanctions on International Criminal Court staff investigating US citizens or allies.
Rubio’s Twitter diplomacy to Trump’s ‘great television’ in Zelenskyy White House fallout
The February 28, 2025 White House meeting between U.S. President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demonstrated the same undiplomatic approach that characterized the Twitter expulsion of Ambassador Rasool.
During what critics called “one of the grimmest days in American diplomacy,” Trump publicly criticized Zelenskyy, calling him a “dictator without elections” despite Ukraine’s democratic processes.
The meeting reportedly devolved into a shouting match, with Trump and Vance yelling at Zelenskyy and Trump remarking, “This is going to be great television,” treating a serious diplomatic engagement as a spectacle.
When shown pictures of brutalized Ukrainian soldiers, Trump’s response of “That’s tough stuff” was widely criticized for its lack of empathy.
Trump’s use of rhetoric that echoed Russian talking points about Ukraine risking global war further undermined diplomatic norms. This behavior parallels the early assessment from CNN in 2017 that Trump was becoming “the world’s most undiplomatic diplomat,” viewing foreign policy through a transactional lens.
“We have an unwritten rule in diplomacy, you are going to argue with your friends but do it behind closed doors, don’t expose differences in public,” Nicholas Burns, a longtime US diplomat and former under secretary of state for political affairs, told CNN during Trump’s first term. “Don’t make life difficult for your friends.”
For diplomats worldwide, Rasool’s Twitter expulsion signals that traditional diplomatic protocols may continue to be upended during Trump’s second term, with social media potentially becoming a front in international relations.
