The White House reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will not send a delegation to the upcoming G20 conference in South Africa, calling reports claiming the opposite “fake news.”

President Donald Trump said earlier in November that U.S. officials would skip the annual conference, which brings together 19 nations to discuss global economic stability and development, over South Africa’s reported human rights abuses.

Media reports and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, however, have claimed that the U.S. will send a delegation to the summit, which begins Saturday.

When approached for comment on claims the U.S. backtracked and will send a delegation, a White House official said such claims were “fake news.”

“This is fake news. The chargé d’affaires in Pretoria will attend the handover ceremony as a formality, but the United States is not joining G20 discussions,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Thursday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Nov. 7,  “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. No U.S. Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue.”

Ramaphosa, speaking Thursday at a G20 event in Johannesburg, told delegates and media, “We have received notice from the United States, a notice where we are still in discussions with them, about a change of mind about participating in one shape, form or other in the (G20) Summit.

“So, the discussions are still ongoing, it’s come at a late hour before the summit begins, so it needs to engage in those type of discussions to see how practical it is, and what it finally really means.

“In a way, I see this as a positive sign, very positive, because, as I’ve often said, boycott politics never works.”

Ramaphosa later said if the U.S. does not take part, it is “outside the tent.”

He added, “The United States needs to be here, so it’s pleasing to hear that there is a change of approach, and so we are still discussing how that will manifest.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Ramaphosa’s office for a response to the White House official’s statement Thursday but did not immediately receive a reply.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added during Thursday’s news conference that “there is not a shift” of plans to attend.

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