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France quietly rescinded South Africa’s invitation to the G7 leaders’ summit in Evian-les-Bains in June, the South African presidency confirmed Thursday, igniting a public dispute over whether Washington threatened to boycott the gathering if Pretoria was present. Paris denied acting under American pressure, but South Africa’s account pointed directly to a U.S. ultimatum, deepening concerns that the Trump administration’s bilateral campaign against Pretoria is now reshaping decisions within Western multilateral forums.
South African presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told reporters that France communicated the withdrawal through its embassy in Pretoria.
“We are told that the Americans threatened to boycott the G7 if South Africa was invited,” he said. “We’ve accepted the French decision and appreciate the pressure they’ve been subjected to.” Later the same day, however, President Cyril Ramaphosa himself told reporters that based on his information there had been “no pressure from any country” to exclude South Africa from the summit list. The contradiction between Ramaphosa and his own spokesperson was not immediately reconciled by the presidency.
France offered a different rationale entirely. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said his country had “not yielded to any pressure” but had opted for a “streamlined G7,” selecting Kenya as its African guest to help prepare for Macron’s major Africa-France summit in Nairobi in May. A French official told reporters that the guest nations, comprising India, South Korea, Brazil, and Kenya, were chosen because they are “democracies and market economies that play by the rules of international cooperation.” The summit is scheduled for June 15 through 17 in Evian-les-Bains in southeastern France.
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A White House official endorsed France’s account, saying France had expressed a desire in January to invite an African nation and that after discussion among G7 members, it was “collectively determined” that Kenya should fill that role. “The United States welcomes Kenya’s participation,” the official said. The White House and State Department did not respond directly to questions about whether Trump had threatened to skip the summit if South Africa attended.
Ramaphosa had attended G7 summits on several occasions as an invited guest, most recently in Canada in 2025 and previously in France in 2019. His exclusion from Evian is consistent with a sustained downgrading of South Africa’s standing in forums where Washington exerts influence. The Trump administration cut U.S. aid to South Africa last year and moved to bar Pretoria from participating in the G20 while holding the group’s rotating presidency in 2026, a particularly pointed gesture given that South Africa only recently chaired the forum.
Relations between Pretoria and Washington deteriorated sharply in November last year following Trump’s decision to boycott the G20 summit in Johannesburg. In a post on social media, Trump accused the South African government of refusing to acknowledge what he falsely described as the killing of white farmers and the seizure of their land. He also cited South Africa’s refusal to hand the G20 presidency to a senior U.S. Embassy representative at the closing ceremony.
“Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20,” Trump wrote. South Africa’s pursuit of a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice has added a further point of friction with Washington.
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The South African presidency said the exclusion would have “no impact on the strength and close nature” of its bilateral relationship with France, and added that Pretoria “remains committed to engage constructively with the U.S.” despite the series of diplomatic setbacks.
The episode further complicates France’s ambitions for the Evian summit, which Macron had intended to use as a platform for substantive economic reform. Paris had hoped to urge China to boost domestic demand and reduce what it described as destabilizing exports, call on the U.S. to reduce its deficits, and press Europe to produce more and save less. France had also explored the possibility of inviting China, but that effort did not materialize. Officials said Beijing would instead be engaged through separate diplomatic channels.
Those structural economic goals may be overtaken by the immediate pressures of the Iran war. An adviser to Macron acknowledged the uncertainty, saying the summit’s actual agenda would depend heavily on how the Iran-linked energy shock evolves by June. “However it evolves, we will have to address its energy and economic consequences,” the adviser said. Whether Trump himself attends also remained an open question. “I won’t make any predictions, but if Trump doesn’t come, it also makes sense, it’s a new international reality and we need to organise ourselves accordingly,” a French official said.
No official response from Kenya’s government to the invitation was issued publicly on Thursday, beyond a confirmation from Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, made on March 24, that the East African nation had been asked to attend.
