The Trump administration says the South African ambassador must depart the United States by Friday.
WASHINGTON (USA News Today) — The ambassador of South Africa to the United States, who was designated "persona non grata" last week, has until Friday to depart the country, according to the State Department.
South African embassy employees were called to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note outlining the decision after Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the United States and shared his decision on social media on Friday, according to department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
She said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday and that he would be required to leave the United States by Friday.
South African Foreign Ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in a television interview on Monday that Rasool was still in the U.S. but would be leaving as soon as possible.
Rubio announced his decision in a post on X as he was flying back to the United States from a Group of 7 foreign ministers meeting in Canada. In it, he accused Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump.
His post linked to a story by the conservative Breitbart news site about a talk Rasool gave earlier Friday in Johannesburg as part of a South African think tank’s webinar. Rasool, speaking by videoconference, talked about actions taken by the Trump administration in the context of a United States where white people soon would no longer be in the majority.
