The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, was the target of a diplomatic ambush led by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, during an official visit to the White House.

Trump pressured Ramaphosa in front of cameras and aides with false or out-of-context videos. One of them pointed to alleged clandestine cemeteries in the country.

With firmness and calmness, Ramaphosa dismantled the charade. He questioned Trump about the origin of the videos, which the Republican admitted to being unaware of.

Then, with irony, the South African reacted to the provocation: "I'm sorry, I don't have a plane to give you," he said in a tone that many present interpreted as a veiled denunciation of the promiscuity between Trump and authoritarian regimes, like that of Qatar, from whom he received a luxurious Boeing worth 1 billion.

Completely out of diplomatic protocol, the childish attempt at humiliation was the same one used against the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in February, with success. But repeating it against Ramaphosa encountered formidable resistance.

Unlike the Ukrainian, the South African president did not get upset, nor did he "get into a shouting match" or stand up. He remained on the same level of sarcasm as Trump, and his demeanor dismantled the arrogance of the American who expected the conversation to devolve into insults and grandstanding, as it did with Zelensky. #news_update #SouthAfrica