By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President of the United States Donald Trump will not be attending the G20 summit to be hosted in Johannesburg in November.
Trump said his vice president JD Vance would leading the US delegation in November.
“I won’t be going this year, it’s in South Africa. I won’t be going, JD will be going…great vice president and he looks forward to it, but no, I won’t be going to that,” said Trump.
The US president was more interested in announcing that the 2026 G20 summit will be hosted in the state of Florida.
The 2025 G20 summit will be hosted in Johannesburg on the weekend of 22 November under the themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability.
The G20 was founded in 1999 and comprises of 19 countries and two regional blocks — the European and African Unions.
G20 members make up roughly 85% of the worlds GDP, over 75% of all international and over 65% of the global population.
Leadership of the G20 is assumed on a rotational basis and the host nation is obliged to set the agenda for the summit.
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola has welcomed Trump’s decision to send Vance to the Group of 20 world leaders (G20) summit.
“We welcome the fact that he has assigned his Deputy President, Vance, to be the one who attends the G20 in SA and that is a welcomed development because the US can assign anyone that President Trump deems necessary and we look forward to interact with him in the platforms of the G20 but we also know that he is also reluctant to travel a long distance. But I believe that the White House can shed more light on his reasons, but we believe that the G20 will still be able to produce the ambitious outcomes. We don’t want to be in any conspirational or second-guessing.”
US President added that the summit would focus on unleashing economic prosperity by eliminating burdensome regulations, unlocking affordable energy and pioneering new technologies. He stressed that it was going to be very important and noted that the United States was already leading by example.
Trump underlined that he would not profit from hosting the summit, saying the arrangement was not about money.
He also said he would be glad to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meeting in the United States.