OUT OF CONTEXT: There has NOT been any collision between South Afica’s Julius Malema and Presidnt Donald Trump as this post says
A video shared on TikTok by user @blackkmediatv, captioned “Malema attacks Donald Trump face to face”, uses an edit combining two unrelated clips, one showing Julius Malema shouting in the South African Parliament about occupying land, and another showing Donald Trump with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa meeting in the Oval Office at the white house.
@blackkmediatv #donaldtrump #juliusmalema #southafrica #us #blackkmediatv ♬ original sound – Black K Media Tv
The two events took place in different years and venues, and Malema was not addressing Trump.
Background
Julius Sello Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, is well-known for calling for “occupation” of unused land in South Africa, remarks that led to controversy in Parliament in May 2018 when Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli said his statements warranted investigation.
Separately, on 21 May 2025, Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, D.C. During this meeting, Trump screened a video and held print-outs of articles alleging a “genocide” of white South African farmers. These claims were widely challenged and shown to rest on misattributed or misleading footage.
Claim
The TikTok video presents the two clips consecutively and implies that Malema is angrily confronting Trump directly and that Trump is reacting, suggesting a “face-to-face” interaction. The caption reinforces this misleading narrative. As of November 2025, the video has received over 50,000 likes, 1,905 comments, and 2,426 shares, indicating wide circulation and influence.
Verification
- Analysis of the original Malema footage shows it originates from a South African parliamentary session focused on land occupation issues, and the Deputy Speaker’s remarks at the time match the context of that event.
- The Trump segment is from a high-profile meeting on 21 May 2025 in the Oval Office with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Washington, D.C. During the meeting, Trump screened a video that included footage of Malema speaking in South Africa.
This connected the archival Malema footage to the diplomatic context but did not involve any direct interaction between Malema and Trump.
- The temporal and situational mismatch. Malema’s remarks from around 2018 and Trump’s statements from 2025 make the supposed exchange impossible.
- No reliable news or parliamentary source documents a meeting or live exchange between Malema and Trump as depicted in the edit.
Contextual review
While each video component is rooted in real footage (Malema’s parliamentary speech and Trump’s diplomatic claim), the way they are combined in the TikTok post is misleading. The edit creates a false narrative by placing unrelated videos side by side and presenting them as a single event.
Methodology
We reviewed the TikTok post uploaded by @blackkmediatv, including edit styles. Key frames were cross-checked via parliamentary records and news reports to establish original dates and contexts of the clips. We compared the timelines and venues of Malema’s parliamentary remarks and Trump’s diplomatic comments to assess whether the interaction claimed in the edit ever occurred.
Verdict: Out of context.
Malema did not attack Trump face-to-face. The TikTok video uses genuine clips but in a fabricated sequence that falsely suggests a confrontation between Malema and Trump. Viewers are misled about the timing, context and parties involved.