JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to meet President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, in an attempt to reset relations between the two countries after the U.S. president's continuous attacks on his government.

The U.S. administration has repeatedly slammed Pretoria for what it falsely claims is the systematic persecution of white Afrikaner farmers — and the South African side has repeatedly tried to correct Washington.

To no avail. The list of the Trump administration's grievances with South Africa are any diplomat's nightmare. Trump cut aid to the country in February, his top officials have snubbed G20 events South Africa is hosting this year and the U.S. expelled South Africa's ambassador. The U.S. administration is also angry that Pretoria — a firm Palestinian ally — has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice in the Hague over its war in Gaza.

Many South Africans will be watching today's meeting anxiously, especially after Trump's televised hostility towards Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office earlier this year made headlines around the world.

Ramaphosa wants to use the meeting to set Trump straight regarding race relations in South Africa — Trump has repeated a rightwing conspiracy theory that there is a "white genocide" happening in the country — and his government's policies.

Will Trump listen this time? Pretoria has to try, because a vital free trade agreement hangs in the balance amid other economic...

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