Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States, was no longer welcome in the country this week after he claimed that President Donald Trump was “mobilizing” white supremacy around the world.
“South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio wrote Friday on X.
“Ebrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS,” he added. “We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”
Declaring that someone is persona non grata is a formal designation that indicates a particular diplomat or politician is no longer welcome in the host country and that they need to leave.
NEWS
The United States has declared South Africa’s Ambassador to the U.S. persona non grata (PNG).
Secretary Marco Rubio announced the decision, citing this clip and referring to Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool as a “race-baiting politician who hates America and [President Trump].”… pic.twitter.com/Dckvf8pxN3
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 14, 2025
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Max Meizlish and Richard Goldberg, national security experts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, encouraged Trump in January to revoke Rasool’s credentials, citing his extremist views:
Rasool’s track record represents all that is wrong with South Africa’s foreign policy under the [African National Congress]. He has hosted senior Hamas operatives. He has reportedly praised Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as “one of the greatest inspirations.” Just two weeks before the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against Israel, Rasool gloated about receiving a signed keffiyeh from the group’s former political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, whom Israel assassinated last July.
Rasool has also defended Iran, worked to strengthen the country’s ties with Russia, and has supported the anti-Western BRICS economic alliance.
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) praised Rubio for the move.
“I applaud @secrubio for calling out the South African ambassador’s disgraceful, anti-American hate speech,” Risch said. “Suffice it to say that he is not cut out for diplomacy.”
