The administration of President Donald Trump has declared South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool a persona non grata in the United States. In a social media post on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Rasool was ā€œno longer welcome in our great countryā€.

ā€œEbrahim Rasool is a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates POTUS,ā€ Rubio wrote, using the acronym for President of the United States. ā€œWe have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.ā€

Rubio linked his remarks to an article by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart, wherein Rasool is quoted as saying Trump mobilised a ā€œsupremacist instinctā€ and ā€œwhite victimhoodā€ as a ā€œdog whistleā€ during the 2024 elections.