By Kwedu News
President Donald Trump’s much-touted “Mission South Africa” program is facing fresh scrutiny this week following the arrival of its first group of South African farmer refugees, whose unexpected backgrounds have sparked confusion and embarrassment within the administration.
One online publication says the arrival scene in Ohio was anything but the triumphant welcome President Trump had anticipated. Greeted by a group of South African migrants brandishing signs declaring “We were told there’d be Chick-fil-A,” local officials were left to navigate the fallout of a profound cultural misunderstanding.
Behind the playful slogans, however, lies a more serious narrative of policy missteps, identity confusion, and breakdowns in vetting procedures.
Marketed as a humanitarian pipeline for white farmers allegedly fleeing violent land seizures in South Africa, the “Mission South Africa” initiative had promised to fast-track United States citizenship for what Trump described as “tremendous farmers.”
Instead, the refugees stepping off the plane were a patchwork of ex-car guards, aspiring rappers, and at least one individual who claimed to have “almost bought a tractor.”
One refugee, Corné, summed up the misalignment, as quoted online.
“I told Mr. Trump I can’t farm, but I can direct traffic anywhere. That’s a skill, right?”
Another, Jaco, now living in a Nebraska barn, admitted, “I’ve never touched a cow. I mean, once, at a petting zoo. But that was for a Tinder date.”
While President Trump maintained an upbeat tone during a visit to a Home Depot garden section, saying that “Even if they can’t grow corn, they’re growing on me” behind the scenes, aides reported a very different picture.
Sources inside the White House, speaking under condition of anonymity, described to one publication that the president was “visibly shaken” upon learning the true makeup of the refugee cohort.
“They told me they were farmers. Tremendous farmers. The best,” Trump reportedly fumed in private, while publicly blaming “crooked paperwork,” “fake vetting,” and “possibly the Clintons” for the unexpected outcome.
Officials in South Africa, for their part, expressed little surprise.
“We’ve repeatedly said: land reform is happening, but no one is being chased off their land with torches,” a South African diplomat remarked, adding, “Frankly, we’re more surprised Mr. Trump didn’t demand gold first.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has allegedly been forced into damage control, urgently revising its New Farmer Integration Program to include crash courses in basic agriculture, animal handling, and a tongue-in-cheek workshop titled “Fertilizer Is Not Cocaine 101.”
In the absence of farming opportunities, the migrants have found creative ways to adapt.
An Instagram account, @FromFarmToFame, has quickly gained traction, offering a humorous glimpse into their new American reality.
Posts include prairie selfies with captions such as “When you said ‘ranch,’ I thought you meant salad dressing.”
