Rubio Says South Africa's Ambassador To The Us 'is No Longer Welcome' In The Country

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africa's ambassador to the United States "is no longer welcome" in the country, in the latest Trump administration move targeting the African nation.

Rubio, in a post on X, accused Ebrahim Rasool of being a "race-baiting politician" who hates President Donald Trump. Rubio declared the South African diplomat "persona non grata."

Neither Rubio, who posted as he was flying back to Washington from a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada, nor the State Department gave any immediate explanation for the decision.

But Rubio linked to a story by the ultraconservative Breitbart news site about a talk Rasool gave earlier Friday as part of a South African think tank's webinar in which he spoke about actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of a United States where white people soon would no longer be in the majority.

Both Trump and his ally Elon Musk, who grew up in South Africa, have criticized the country's Black-led government over a new land law they claim discriminates against white people.