OPINION | SA right-wing groups are fooling themselves if they think Donald Trump is their saviour

White supremacist organisations in SA like AfriForum and Solidarity are emboldened and have been vocally supporting US President Donald Trump in his misguided and ignorant offensive against our country in recent weeks.

They see him as a champion of their racist beliefs, but history has demonstrated that unquestioning loyalty to US politicians, particularly those as transactional as Trump, frequently results in disaster.

The US has a history of turning its back on its “friends” when they are no longer politically advantageous, from the South Vietnamese to the Kurds and Afghans. Trump supporters in SA, especially white supremacists, would be wise to take note of these lessons before putting their trust in a man and a country that has a history of abandoning its so-called friends when they are no longer needed.

The US has a well-established history of forming alliances only to sever them when its strategic objectives or domestic politics change. In its struggle against communist North Vietnam, the US provided South Vietnam with substantial financial, military, and other support. However, it started pulling its soldiers out of the country as popular sentiment in the US shifted against the war.

Those who had depended on US security were executed, imprisoned, and displaced in enormous numbers because of the country’s complete withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1975.

One of America’s most devoted allies in the Middle East, the Kurds, have been deceived time and time again. The US supported Kurdish insurgents in their 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War, but subsequently stood by and watched as they were put down.

Kurdish troops played a significant role in the defeat of Islamic State in Syria, but Trump abandoned them when he abruptly withdrew US troops in 2019. He went on to allow Turkey to invade areas controlled by the Kurdish people.

After two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, the US reached a withdrawal agreement with the Taliban and abandoned the Afghan government it had supported with billions of dollars. Afghan allies who had co-operated with US forces were left behind after Kabul fell in 2021; many of them were pursued and killed.

Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown after the US and Nato bombed Libya into anarchy in 2011 while claiming to be protecting its people. Libya today is a failed state, plagued by competing warlords and militias.

Trump’s foreign policy has been characterised by transactional self-interest and unpredictability. Though his words may strike a chord with far-right organisations worldwide, he will dismiss supporters without hesitation if they no longer serve his interests.

Trump has frequently criticised Nato and America’s European allies but hailed the country's long-standing enemies like North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The South African white supremacist fringe movement, which views Trump as a champion of white identity politics, ignores the fact that Trump would immediately disavow them if supporting them turned into a liability.

US foreign policy is not motivated by ideological support for far-right movements overseas but rather by strategic and economic objectives.

History is littered with examples of countries or organisations that trusted the US and were later abandoned. White supremacists in SA are fooling themselves by believing that Trump is their saviour. The US is not a reliable ally, especially for fringe movements with no genuine geopolitical value.

If Trump’s past actions prove anything, it is that he will turn on his fans the moment it benefits him. The prudent course of action is for them to face the reality of their own country’s future rather than putting their hopes in a foreign demagogue. They should not look to a nation that has never hesitated to abandon its “friends” when they were no longer needed.

Credit should go to the South African government under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa, which has been measured in its response to the blatant provocation from those blighted by apartheid nostalgia.

Our government has made it clear it values trade with the US, but it is also not about to fold in the face of political blackmail and extortion that undermines our sovereignty.

The government has demonstrated a strategic and sound grasp of international diplomacy by responding to the Trump administration’s flagrant provocations in a reasonable and balanced manner as it safeguards its interests and attempts to prevent unnecessary political and economic fallout.

These latest political developments should strengthen our government’s resolve to implement a more transformative developmental economic framework. Regaining our people’s unity and trust will only be possible if we proceed with a more fundamental economic transformation to overcome growing unemployment, obscene inequality, and mass poverty.

Democracy in SA was hard-won, and all must uphold its tenets of justice, equality, and non-racism.

• Monyela is Cosatu Gauteng chairperson