Trump Skips G20 Summit—Here’s Who Else Won’t Be There

By Robert Birsel and John FengShareNewsweek is a Trust Project member

President Donald Trump will not be attending a summit of leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies and nor will the leaders of other group members Russia, China, Argentina and Mexico.

Why It Matters

The Group of 20, or G20, was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis with the intention of promoting global financial stability and underpinning development in a forum that brings together the developed industrial economies and their leading developing partners.

Together, G20 members—19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union—represent about 85 percent of global gross domestic product, 75 percent of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.

Trump's absence, and that of other leaders, risks undermining the credibility of the G20 during the gathering in South Africa, its first on the African continent.

What To Know

Trump said that no U.S. officials would attend the summit, saying white South Africans were “being killed and slaughtered” in line with his discredited assertion of a genocide in the country, which South Africa denies.

Muddying the waters on U.S. involvement in the summit on November 22-23 in Johannesburg, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said on Thursday that the United States had signaled it might change its mind and send a delegation. The White House later dismissed the claim as "fake news" but acknowledged that a U.S. representative would be present at the handover of the presidency.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said David Greene, the embassy's charge d'affaires, "is simply there to recognize that the United States will be the host of the G20."

"They are receiving that send-off at the end of the event. They are not there to participate in official talks, despite what the South African president is falsely claiming," Leavitt said.

In a post on X, Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the South African presidency, said: "The President will not hand over to a Charge' d' Affaires."

The position of U.S. ambassador to Pretoria has remained vacant since January.

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Who Else Is Skipping the G20?

China’s President Xi Jinping will also not be attending, with Beijing sending Premier Li Qiang instead, China’s Foreign Ministry said. It is not unusual for Li to represent China at such events.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will also not be going, the Kremlin has said. Instead, he has assigned Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of presidential administration, to head the Russian delegation.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 on accusations of war crimes, specifically the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia during the conflict in Ukraine. South Africa is a member of the ICC and would therefore be obliged to arrest Putin.

The Russian leader has made several foreign visits since the warrant was issued, including to North Korea, Vietnam, China and the United States—for a summit with Trump in Alaska on August 15 this year—but none is a member of the ICC.

Argentina's President Javier Milei is also not going to South Africa but will send his foreign minister, Pablo Quirno. Milie is a close ally to Trump and shares his aversion to multilateralism and efforts to prevent climate change, which South Africa has said it wants to discuss.

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico will not be attending the G20 summit but will send a senior minister instead.

What People Are Saying

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa said at a press conference on Thursday: "It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income level or army determines who has a voice or who is spoken down to. And it basically means that should be no bullying of one nation by another nation. We are all equal."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing on Thursday: "I saw the South African President running his mouth a little bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today, and that language is not appreciated by the president or his team."

Christopher Vandome, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, wrote in a report released on Thursday: “With the U.S. saying it will avoid the gathering and the global commitment to multilateralism being tested more broadly, the summit will not be a grand moment of solidarity or result in decisive action. Yet the issues championed by South Africa, including debt relief and climate finance, are important for the world.”

Who Is in the G20?

The G20's membership includes: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus the European Union and the African Union.

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