Directs Pompeo to study South Africa "land seizures" and "large scale killing of farmers"

Echoing a Fox News segment by Tucker Carlson, Trump tweeted that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study South Africa's "land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers." The Anti-Defamation League said the claim amplified "a longstanding and false white supremacist claim" that South Africa's white farmers face large-scale, racially motivated killings; South Africa's government said the tweet reflected a "narrow perception which only seeks to divide." Available data undercut the claim: AgriSA figures showed farm murders at a roughly 20-year low with about 47 killed in 2017-18, and the government was not seizing white-owned land. Critics characterized the tweet as U.S. foreign policy conducted through disinformation that mainstreamed a white-nationalist talking point.

"I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. "South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers." @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews" Quote verified against source