Afrikaners Arrive in US, Stoking Tension With Pretoria

The first Afrikaner refugees arrived in the United States, while the South African government says the Trump administration is interfering.

South African farmer Tewie Wessels addresses a group of white South Africans supporting U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 15, 2025. Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG—A plane carrying the first group of white Afrikaners to be resettled in the United States as refugees per an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump touched down in Washington on May 12.

South African officials confirmed to The Epoch Times that a private jet chartered by the U.S. government carrying 49 Afrikaners left O.R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg late on Sunday.