For decades, white South Africans ruled with an iron fist, overseeing the country’s apartheid system of racial oppression.

Why is President Trump now welcoming them to the United States as victims?

John Eligon, the Johannesburg bureau chief for The New York Times, explains how the MAGA movement became obsessed with Afrikaners.

Guest: John Eligon, the Johannesburg bureau chief for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• The road to Mr. Trump’s embrace of white South Africans.
• White South Africans granted refugee status by Mr. Trump arrived in the U.S. last week.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

Photo: Ilan Godfrey for The New York Times

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