President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa could not contain his laughter.
A reporter asked him to confirm reports that the United States had dropped its boycott and asked to participate in the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg just two days before it was set to start. The South African leader barely uttered a word before breaking down in laughter, eventually composing himself and saying he had received a note from the Americans “about a change of mind.”
President Trump’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, later said that Mr. Ramaphosa’s language was “not appreciated by the president or his team.”
Just a few weeks ago, that sort of scolding from the White House would have set off slight panic in the South African government, and perhaps drawn an explanation from Mr. Ramaphosa for his departure from diplomatic decorum.
But with Mr. Trump boycotting the annual meeting over his contention that South Africa is persecuting its white minority, some countries were taking a tougher tone on the world’s largest economy and trying to show that life can go on. That meant shaking hands, signing deals, deepening alliances and making pledges at slickly produced live events.
“The G20 should send a clear message that the world can move on with or without the U.S.,” Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s foreign minister, said at a forum hosted by Bloomberg before the summit. “We will mark them absent and continue with the business.”
South Africa declined a Trump administration request that Mr. Ramaphosa ceremonially hand over the summit to the acting ambassador for the United States, which hosts next year’s G20. Mr. Ramaphosa would not hand over to a junior diplomat, the government said, adding that American officials could instead come by its foreign ministry later in the week for the handover.
At the summit, Mr. Ramaphosa pushed ahead with an agenda that put African interests at the fore. He broke with tradition by starting the two-day meeting with the adoption of a final declaration; such documents are normally issued at the end. And he said that the declaration had unanimous agreement among the members present — despite an objection from the foreign minister of Argentina. That country, several participants said, has championed the Trump administration’s interests this year.
“We note with deep respect the views expressed by Argentina,” Mr. Ramaphosa responded. “We will, with great respect, move ahead with the accepted declaration as the G20.”
The final declaration included many terms that Trump officials had opposed in meetings ahead of the summit, among them “just energy transitions,” “climate change” and “gender equality.”
“I think the big message coming out of this G20 is that despite the geopolitical bullying that exists, despite the power of the U.S., that countries can come together and still get stuff done,” said Nabil Ahmed, a senior director at Oxfam America who attended the summit.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil told reporters after the meeting ended on Sunday that although Mr. Trump has been promoting unilateralism, “I think multilateralism will win.”
“Everyone here knows that together we will be much stronger, much more competent,” he said.
But for all the celebration, Mr. Lula and his fellow leaders are under no illusion that they can simply thumb their noses at Mr. Trump. The size of its economy means that the United States still has great influence over critical global issues like renewable energy, trade and wars.
Brazil is still grappling with high tariffs Washington imposed on some of its products. South Africa is in the middle of difficult negotiations with the Trump administration to try to get its own 30 percent tariff reduced. And the final G20 declaration is not binding. It makes a series of recommendations, and while it can influence the policy decisions of institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. vote has serious influence at many of those institutions.
Mr. Trump’s impact could be felt on the summit’s first day when Ukrainian allies quickly had to pull together a meeting on the sidelines to discuss a contentious American-backed peace plan for the war with Russia.
That was just one of the geopolitical issues that divided G20 leaders.
“We are having trouble putting new compromises on the table,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said, adding that G20 negotiators found themselves struggling to come to terms “on subjects we thought were settled.”
But in some ways, America’s retreat has allowed other nations to look past their problems with each other.
It wasn’t long ago that the European Union and South Africa were at odds over South Africa’s friendliness with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. But in the days leading up to the G20 summit, Mr. Ramaphosa was all smiles as he stood alongside Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and António Costa, the president of the European Council, during events. The European leaders announced a new minerals pact with South Africa and pledged billions of dollars toward renewable energy development in Africa.
“We are a partner that plays by the rules,” Ms. von der Leyen said. “We listen to our partners.”
John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times, covering a wide range of events and trends that influence and shape the lives of ordinary people across southern Africa.
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