LISTEN: Could Trump, Musk ‘X-plosion’ be linked to SA?
A political analyst believes there could be a link between the US's claims of a white genocide in South Africa and the fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The US president and his former South African-born political ally got into an extraordinary spat on Friday, which played out on social media.
Speaking in the Oval Office earlier, Trump said he was disappointed that his former aide criticised the Republican tax cut and spending bill, commonly called the Big, Beautiful Bill.
The pair then traded insults, with Musk taking to his social media platform X, alleging that Trump is mentioned in the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
READ: 'Oh it's okay': Trump on Musk political marriage meltdown
Replying on his own Truth Social social media platform, Trump threatened to take away the tech billionaire's government contracts.
It comes weeks after President Cyril Ramaphosa and a delegation of four ministers met Trump in Washington, in a bid to rescue relations between the two countries.
Political analyst Levy Ndou says he can only speculate about what may have happened.
"Elon wanted the US government to exert pressure on South Africa. Elon fed lies to the President of America. The president took it to the extreme, and the extreme nature of the US president required a response from the South African government. We were able to clarify our position correctly, and we were able to prove to him that what he was told is a lie."
