Trump’s G20 no-show: US blasts group at UN meeting for ‘drifting’ away
First G20 summit on African soil overshadowed by US absence, as Washington shifts focus to 2026 hosting duties to ‘restore’ core mission
The United States used Thursday’s Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting to attack the forum, accusing it of drifting from its economic mission towards social issues and dashing South Africa’s hopes that US President Donald Trump would attend its annual summit in November.
Rather than embracing the Johannesburg gathering – the first on African soil since the G20’s founding in 1999 – Washington dismissed it as a distraction, saying its focus is on 2026, when it will host the forum and drive it “back to basics”.
Allison Hooker, under secretary of state for political affairs, stood in for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who pointedly skipped the gathering on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
“Unfortunately, in recent years, the G20 has drifted too often. Its agenda has expanded well beyond its core remit,” she said, accusing the forum of becoming “entangled in debates over every political wedge issue of the day”, from “gender-responsive budgeting” to “nation-building” and “pandemic surveillance”.
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The US will not “spend hours debating out of touch social initiatives disconnected from growth and stability. Instead, we will concentrate on priorities that directly strengthen our economies and benefit our citizens”, Hooker declared.