U.S. Vice President JD Vance has called off a scheduled visit to Kenya following President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to pull the United States out of this year’s G20 Summit, according to Reuters.
Kenya’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday that the visit, which was meant to take place immediately after the summit, had been canceled. The ministry’s statement said that Vance’s cancellation would “not affect the strong and enduring ties between our two nations.”
The canceled trip was part of a broader U.S. engagement plan in East Africa that aimed to expand cooperation on technology, counter-terrorism, and a mission in Haiti . According to Business Insider Africa, Vance was expected to meet Kenyan President William Ruto and launch new joint initiatives between American firms and Kenyan entrepreneurs.
Officials told Business Insider Africa that both parties are still committed to making sure that ongoing negotiations are not disrupted. Kenya hopes to extend the existing African Growth and Opportunity Act agreement by 5 years, and they are looking to further diversify their economic partnership in an unprecedented deal for a sub-Saharan country.
President Trump’s withdrawal from the G20 Summit has drawn global attention. As reported by NPR, the president made the decision amid rising diplomatic tensions with South Africa. The dispute reportedly centers on the supposed “human rights” violations that the government has imposed on white Afrikaner South Africans.
Trump’s G20 boycott triggers cancellation of VP Vance’s Kenya stopover. But Kenya is wrong if it thinks that “this decision is specific to South Africa, not Kenya.” The only obvious chance for a senior US official to visit Africa affects all of Africa. https://t.co/cqvM5EiqOF
— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) November 11, 2025
Trump took to Truth Social to share his views on South Africa over the weekend. He said, “It is a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa. Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.”
Trump’s beliefs about white Afrikaner South African genocide have widely been disproved, per CNN. However, it is interesting to note that the president so firmly believes it that he has capped new immigrants to only 7,500, prioritizing white South Africans above any other applicants.
The ripple effects of the decision reached across several planned diplomatic events, including Vance’s Kenya leg. Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi told Nation Africa, “Since the Vice President was to have a round-trip that would have culminated with his visit to Kenya after the G20 Summit in South Africa, his trip has now become untenable.”
The visit would have been Vance’s first official trip to Africa since taking office as vice president in January. But Kenya has not taken offence by the sudden cancellation. Mudavadi stated, “But this [cancellation] has nothing to do with Kenya. President Trump’s statement is specific to South Africa, not Kenya.”
Neither Vance nor the White House has released further details about potential new dates or whether a U.S. delegation might attend future African summits in his place.
As a senior Kenya official said, “We continue to value our partnership with the United States and are confident that our ongoing engagements will not be derailed by scheduling changes.
It seems as if the cancellation is not an indication of the state of their partnership. It seems to be a matter of just finalizing the deal even if they are unable to cement their agreement in person.
For now, both countries appear focused on keeping trade and cooperation intact despite the cancelled trip.
