Trump tweeted on Wednesday night that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into “South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers.”

The president’s missive came shortly after Fox News aired a report asserting that the South African government is “now seizing land from white farmers,” which is not true. “The president asked him to look at the current state of action with regard to land reform,” she said, and Pompeo plans to “take a look at it.”

Nauert said that expropriation of land without compensation “would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path.” She added that the U.S. has encouraged a “peaceful and transparent debate” about land rights in South Africa, adding “that seems to be happening right now.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., took to Twitter to condemn Trump's "racially-charged" comments. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Aug. 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is forging ahead with plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africa’s land more than two decades after the end of apartheid. Trump’s tweet on the situation in South Africa may have been inspired by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who had presented on his nightly talk show what he called an exclusive investigation on South Africa, in which the host discussed land seizures and homicides there. The tweet prompted Khusela Diko, a spokeswoman for South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to say that Trump was “misinformed” about what the government describes as land reform, the state broadcaster said.
The government of South Africa rejects a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump as "based on false information", in which he appeared to respond to a Fox News report stating that the South African government is "now seizing land from white farmers."