The Oval Office meeting went off the rails when President Trump started playing videos and repeating discredited claims about a "white genocide" in South Africa.

Ramaphosa enjoyed a brief wave of sympathy after his White House ambush but he is a problematic leader, writes Sizwe Mpofu Walsh.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to Washington, D.C., on Monday and will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss "global issues of interest" amid strained relations.