Who is the one actually committing land grabs?

U.S. President Donald Trump has suspended aid to South Africa, citing the government’s decision to seize land from white settlers as the reason. The issue stems from land ownership patterns established under the apartheid regime, which officially ended in 1994.

During the colonial era, European settlers forcibly took control of South African land. While apartheid has been abolished, the land ownership system has largely remained unchanged. Today, the white population—roughly 9% of the country—still controls about 75% of arable land. In an effort to establish a more equitable land distribution, the South African government has introduced reforms. However, Trump has described these reforms as "land grabs."

The South African government, on the other hand, argues that these measures are not acts of confiscation but rather a constitutional process aimed at ensuring fair land access for all citizens, as mandated by the constitution.

Trump has suspended all U.S. foreign aid—except for Israel and Egypt—until a 90-day review is completed. This decision is expected to negatively impact humanitarian assistance to countries like Ukraine and Sudan.

Commenting on the aid suspension, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, "The U.S. government is not a charity organization."

Most U.S. foreign aid is managed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an autonomous body within the State Department. USAID plays a key role in areas ranging from healthcare and agriculture to education and humanitarian relief, often serving as the public diplomacy arm of U.S. foreign policy.

South Africa receives aid from USAID through PEPFAR (the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which funds HIV treatment programs. PEPFAR, overseen by the Office of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, also supports efforts to combat diseases like polio, meningitis, and malaria. This year, PEPFAR’s budget stands at $7.5 billion, while USAID’s total annual budget exceeds $40 billion.

If USAID is shut down or significantly cut back, thousands of employees will lose their jobs. Layoffs and furloughs have already begun. In addition to freezing funding, the U.S. government has also restricted access to PEPFAR’s data system.

Democrats in Congress argue that shutting down an agency funded by Congress is illegal and stress that USAID’s work is crucial for national security.

Trump’s Office of Government Efficiency, which was created to enforce budget cuts, is co-chaired by South African-born billionaire Elon Musk. Musk played a role in the decision to suspend foreign aid, and he made his stance clear in a post on X, saying, "USAID is a criminal organization. Time to shut it down."

Another dimension to this issue is Trump’s broader geopolitical strategy. He has been pressuring Denmark, a NATO ally, to sell Greenland to the U.S., even hinting at the possibility of using force to take control of the island.

This raises the question: Is Trump punishing South Africa because it brought a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)? Israel had previously urged U.S. lawmakers to pressure South Africa, and pro-Israel hardliners—mostly Republicans—have strongly criticized South Africa’s actions.

While accusing South Africa of "land grabs," Trump has been pushing Jordan and Egypt to accept the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. In his first term, he officially recognized Israel’s annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights and approved the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

One of Trump’s first moves in his second term was to lift the symbolic sanctions Biden had imposed on a few Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

For Trump, power is the only variable that matters in foreign policy and international relations. His approach aligns with the idea that "the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must."

A country’s global influence reflects the kind of state it is. Trump seems to believe he has the right to punish those he chooses while shielding others from accountability. If he truly thinks such a world is sustainable, he is gravely mistaken.

The U.S. is not the master of the world.