In Attempt To Fact Check Trump About South African Land Grab, Bloomberg Admits He’s Right
Bloomberg writer Mike Cohen said President Donald Trump is “falsely claiming” that South Africa’s government is stealing white farmers’ land. But just a few paragraphs later, he admitted it actually is happening, presenting it through the positive lens of its supporters without addressing the concerns Trump raised about it.
“Land ownership in South Africa remains an explosive issue more than three decades after White-minority rule ended,” Cohen wrote in a Monday article. “US President Donald Trump falsely claiming that the government is engaging in land grabs has added more fuel to the fire.”
Trump signed an executive order Feb. 7, “Addressing Egregious Actions Of The Republic Of South Africa.” The president condemned South Africa’s Expropriation Act 13, as it would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.”
Cohen cited South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who “said Trump misunderstood the intention and mechanics of the law, which was passed as a tool to ensure equitable access to land.”
But suddenly, Cohen went from denying the land grabs to apparently endorsing them. “The A[frican] N[ational] C[ongress] then said it could achieve its land-redistribution goals through the standalone Expropriation Act, which only needed a simple majority in parliament to pass,” Cohen wrote.
He said the bill “gives the government the power to take land for a public purpose” like roads or schools — or “in the public interest, which includes efforts ‘to bring about equitable access to all South Africa’s natural resources in order to redress the results of past racial discriminatory laws or practices.’” And, Cohen wrote, “[t]he owner of expropriated land must be paid ‘just and equitable’ compensation, although the act contains a provision for nothing to be paid in some instances.”
So Cohen not only admits the law helps with “land-redistribution goals,” but that it operates upon racial lines and does not require compensation. Sounds a lot like Trump’s description of the bill — that it would “enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.”
Expropriation Act 13 plainly allows forcible seizure of land with no compensation. “When a court or arbitrator determines the amount of compensation in terms of section 23 of the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996 (Act No. 3 of 1996), it may be just and equitable for nil compensation to be paid, having regard to all relevant circumstances,” it reads.
The bill also says “[i]t may be just and equitable for nil compensation to be paid where land is expropriated in the public interest, having regard to all relevant circumstances, including … where the land is not being used and the owner’s main purpose is not to develop the land or use it to generate income, but to benefit from appreciation of its market value.”
Chuck DeVore, chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, pointed out Cohen’s disingenuous approach.
“So, to sum up Bloomberg: ‘Trump is lying.’ ‘Well, Trump is telling the truth, but it’s a good thing, so he’s wrong,’” DeVore posted. “Gotcha.”
Inciting Violence
This legislation is just one of the latest blows to law and order in South Africa. For decades, black South Africans have been attacking and brutally murdering Afrikaners — white South Africans — in farm attacks. (In 2018, Ramaphosa “said the government did not condone attacks or the seizure of white-owned farms,” according to Newsweek). From April to September last year, according to South Africa police statistics (which do not distinguish these numbers by race), there were 197 total reported farm murders and 154 attempts — not to mention nearly 600 total cases of assault on farms.
Far-left Member of Parliament Andile Mngxitama apparently endorsed the farm murders earlier this month.
“I agree with Trump the land thieves must leave SA and go to the USA. Our land shall be free of colonialists. Mabahambe!” he wrote.
One user replied, “Only in a casket, Andile. Only in a casket. And I doubt your ability to arrange even that.” To which Mngxitama replied “Plaas moord” — Afrikaans for “farm murders.”
Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters — a Marxist political party in South Africa — routinely and unapologetically chant “kill the Boer” at rallies.
Trump’s executive order said South Africa’s land seizure law “follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business,” along with “hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He is a spring 2025 fellow of The College Fix. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.
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