What is President Donald Trump’s new executive order on resettling ‘refugees?’ Time to know why it’s ‘obviously revolting’

President Donald Trump’s diplomacy via scrimmage continues.

His persistent threat to impose tariffs on South Africa for its membership in the informal economic alliance of BRICS and his snubbing of the G20 meeting in Johannesburg were clear indicators that South Africa was not in his good graces. So when he seemingly out of nowhere announced a special exception to accept refugees from South Africa via an executive order, everyone was understandably confused — until they read the fine print.

Believe it or not, there was a long-standing era of strong South African-American relations before recent developments made their relationship icy at best. The need for reconciliation had been apparent after South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, a move strongly contested by the United States. Trump initially came in with a mixed declaration to end the Gaza War. That move unexpectedly aligned the U.S. with South Africa on an issue that resonated deeply with South Africans due to their history with apartheid.

All that hope is now gone. President Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 7, 2025, that allowed South Africans of European descent, ethnically referred to as Afrikaners, to seek asylum in the United States. The executive order alleged that Afrikaners are an oppressed class following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s passage of a law allowing the government to seize land under certain circumstances without compensation. Considering 70% of the land is owned by the white minority, they were the most vulnerable to the new law.

The executive order comes on the heels of another just weeks earlier in which Trump directed the U.S. government to stop adhering to American asylum law. The abrupt policy reversal seems at least partly influenced by former South African and current full-time advisor Elon Musk, who has repeatedly called the new South African law “openly racist.” However, President Ramaphosa’s government has clarified that the law will not allow any forceful seizures. According to CBS, the focus will be on seizing idle land or land that does not serve public interests. President Ramaphosa, however, was adamant that his country would not be bullied.

Why do you have openly racist ownership laws? https://t.co/tHWVsmB04F

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025

Online, critics read the controversy as further proof of the Trump administration’s reliance on racist dog whistles. The idea of granting “humanitarian relief” to the undoubtedly wealthiest demographic in the region while blocking other asylum seekers is puzzling, to say the least.

OVERNIGHT: President Trump signs executive order freezing aid to South Africa over law to seize farmland from white farmers without compensation.

The US will assist Afrikaners fleeing SA due to discrimination, including helping them resettle in the US through refugee programs pic.twitter.com/7Zt4cdWagd

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) February 8, 2025

Trump’s Executive Order regarding South Africa smacks of racist white supremacy & a desire to return the country to apartheid: ‘Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa – The White House’ https://t.co/ir16VpkGXl

— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) February 8, 2025

Some South Africans received the news with utter contempt. Local journalist Dan Corder took to X, questioning the logic of resettling Afrikaner refugees while halting U.S. aid. In an impassioned post, Corder partly said, “It’s obviously also revolting because, as we know, refugees are people who had to genuinely flee for their lives… whereas white South Africans, Afrikaners, and the English have benefitted from hundreds of years of economic engineering premised on the vile exploitation of people of color.”

US Government to resettle Afrikaner “refugees” in some of the wildest tomfoolery I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/hi40oDe0tn

— Dan Corder 📺 (@DanCorderOnAir) February 8, 2025

This latest executive order by the Trump administration has Elon Musk’s fingerprints all over it, considering his upbringing in apartheid South Africa. The nation has a long-documented history of racial discrimination, with land reform being a central issue in post-apartheid politics. Local politicians have long grappled with finding solutions, and Musk’s meddling has now become their latest challenge.

Drunk with power, Musk resembles a child in his crib demanding all the toys in the room. It remains to be seen whether even his own allies within the administration will eventually grow tired of him.