Trump administration to cap number of refugees at 7,500 people, prioritise white South Africans

THE US GOVERNMENT is to dramatically limit the number of refugees admitted to the country, with priority to be given to white South Africans.

The Trump administration’s new move will see the numbers capped at just 7,500 people, a far cry from the previous limit of 125,000 set by Joe Biden during his White House term.

In a notice published today, the US government announced that admissions shall “primarily be allocated among Afrikaners” from South Africa.

The notice said it was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”.

It revives a spat from earlier this year when Trump ambushed South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa by challenging him about the apparent “genocide” of white farmers in South Africa.

The claim has no basis in facts, but it has nevertheless gained traction among the Trump administration as it has repeatedly clashed with South Africa’s government in recent months.

In extraordinary scenes in the White House last May, Trump produced a string of articles and played a four-minute video which he claimed as proof that genocide is being committed against white people.

It’s sure to inflame tensions with South Africa, which is hosting this year’s critical G20 gathering next month.

Nuclear testing

Today’s move came as Trump’s administration also issued after a surprise directive to begin nuclear weapons testing, raising the spectre of renewed superpower tensions.

It came days after Russia declared it had tested nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missiles and sea drones.

A blunt statement from Trump on social media, who boasts frequently about being a “peace” president, left much unanswered.

Chiefly, it was unclear whether he meant testing weapons systems or actually conducting test explosions – something the United States has not done since 1992.

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“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Trump also claimed that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country and that he had achieved this in his first term as president.

None of that appeared to be true.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says in its latest annual report that Russia possesses 5,489 nuclear warheads, compared to 5,177 for the United States and 600 for China.

In his post, Trump said – minutes ahead of his summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping – that China was expected to “be even within 5 years.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the United States to “earnestly abide” by a global nuclear testing ban.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said through his deputy spokesman that “nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances.”

The Kremlin questioned whether Trump was well-informed about Russia’s military activities.

The recent weapons drills “cannot in any way be interpreted as a nuclear test,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. “We hope that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump.”

Peskov then implied that Russia would conduct its own live warhead tests if Trump did it first.

“If someone departs from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said.

Both countries observe a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear warheads, though Russia and the United States do regularly run military drills involving nuclear-capable systems.

With reporting by – © AFP2025

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