Rubio will skip a G20 meeting after calling host South Africa's policies anti-American

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa's policies as anti-American.

Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as America’s chief diplomat, and after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia over the war in Ukraine.

Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union's foreign policy chief to brief them immediately after Tuesday's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the State Department said.

Top European diplomats, as well as Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are all expected at the Group of 20 meeting in Johannesburg while the U.S. will be represented by a lower-level delegation.

A G20 meeting would normally be an opportunity for a U.S. secretary of state to push for support on U.S. positions, especially at the start of a new administration.

Analysts say Rubio's absence reflects the Trump administration's indifference to organizations promoting international cooperation, but Rubio has also directly rejected South Africa's priorities for its G20 presidency. The hosts have picked “solidarity, equality, sustainability” as the theme of the G20 this year.

South Africa, the first African nation to hold the group's presidency, says it will try to advance the interests of poor countries, especially with debt refinancing and helping them mitigate the impacts of climate change, where the developing world is asking rich countries to pay more.

Rubio posted on X this month that he would also not attend the main G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, saying South Africa was using the gathering to promote diversity, equality and inclusion frameworks, "In other words: DEI and climate change."

“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” Rubio wrote.

Rubio's decision to skip the G20 meeting also underscores a major deterioration in U.S. relations with South Africa, one of its key trade partners in Africa.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month stopping U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa over a land law that he says discriminates against some of the country's white minority. The order also called South Africa's foreign policy anti-American and criticized its ongoing case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the United Nations' top court, and what it said was the country's closeness to the Communist Party in China.

South Africa is due to hand over the presidency of the G20 to the U.S. at the end of this year, and the two countries are expected to work together under G20 protocols.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday that the U.S. would be represented in Johannesburg this week “in one form or shape or another” and stressed that Rubio's decision was “not a complete boycott of South Africa's G20” by the U.S.

Analysts in Africa say they still see a way for the G20 to make progress under South Africa's presidency, even with limited U.S. interest. The EU, Russia and China have expressed support for South Africa's G20 leadership.

“No one wants to be on the wrong side of the United States," said Oscar van Heerden, senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre of African Diplomacy and Leadership. “But I think everyone also realizes that what drives the foreign policy of the United States is not necessarily what drives the foreign policy of the European Union or the other members of the G20.”

European allies have their own concerns over future cooperation with the Trump administration after they were sidelined by its move to hold bilateral talks this week with Russia.

"Multilateralism is under threat right now,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in South Africa, “We also need to use this opportunity to develop the international system further to be more inclusive for all countries in the world.”

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks from an aircraft, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff attend an interview after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

A G20 poster calling for Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability adorns the site where the foreign ministers meeting of the G20 will take place without The U.S. Secretary of State Feb. 20 and 21, 2025, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends an interview after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, , U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

This is not exactly what the NFL and Netflix had in mind when they thought they would be getting big-name quarterbacks Jayden Daniels vs. Dak Prescott and a high-stakes matchup of NFC East rivals Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys in the Christmas Day spotlight.

As things stand now, it is hard to imagine many folks eagerly anticipating a meeting Thursday between bad teams that will miss the playoffs — and with Daniels, who has been shut down for the season after a series of injuries limited him to just seven appearances, doing no more than appearing on the sideline in street clothes.

“When you do circle those matchups, that’s exactly what you’re thinking: This is going to be cool. How it’s all laid out — division games right here at the end between two games of Philadelphia with a Dallas game in between,” said Washington coach Dan Quinn, whose team dropped to 4-11 by losing to the Eagles last Saturday and will close against that same club in Week 18.

“Playing these division games, they still mean a lot. They mean a lot to the players, the coaches and the fans,” Quinn said, perhaps trying to persuade himself and his locker room as much as anyone. “And so that part is still good, but not to the level that you wanted it to be.”

Or anyone would, really.

As Quinn put it: “You never want a season like this.”

The Cowboys haven't been as terrible as the Commanders, who have dropped nine of their past 10 games and were eliminated weeks ago. But a 6-8-1 record under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer after trading elite pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay means Dallas is out of the postseason for the second year in a row.

Owner Jerry Jones called that outcome “disappointing.”

“We all underachieved, really,” Jones said.

The Cowboys have a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season for the second time in franchise history. The other was in 2019, when Dallas also missed the playoffs.

Prescott just secured his fourth 4,000-yard season, which ties Tony Romo’s club record. Javonte Williams has the first 1,000-yard season of his five-year career in his Dallas debut after an injury-plagued stint in Denver. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens have been a dynamic pairing all season. Pickens has a shot at 1,500 yards receiving in his first 1,000-yard season following the trade that brought him from Pittsburgh. Lamb will fall short of his All-Pro total of 1,749 yards two years ago, but has been mostly productive despite a sprained ankle that essentially cost him four games.

Six years ago, Dallas finished 8-8 despite great stats for Prescott (career-high 4,902 yards passing), Ezekiel Elliott (1,357 yards rushing) and Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup (each over 1,100 yards receiving).

The Cowboys moved left guard Tyler Smith to left tackle last week with backup Nate Thomas struggling as the fill-in for the injured Tyler Guyton. Schottenheimer said Smith would protect Prescott’s blind side the rest of the season.

Smith played left tackle as a rookie in 2022, when perennial Pro Bowler Tyron Smith was injured in training camp and missed most of the season. The Cowboys thought Tyler Smith could be more impactful at guard, but his talent might force a permanent move to the most important spot on the line.

“I’m gonna do what’s best for the team,” Tyler Smith said. “I’m a smart player. I understand who I am, where I am and, ultimately, what I’m getting paid to do.”

Both of these teams have been among the worst at stopping opponents all season, and the men who started 2025 as defensive coordinators — Matt Eberflus for Dallas, and Joe Whitt Jr. for Washington — could be looking for new jobs soon. Eberflus moved from the sideline up to the coaches' box last weekend, with no signs of that making a difference. Whitt shifted the opposite way, from the box to the sideline, in Week 10, then was stripped of play-calling duties by Quinn, who took over that responsibility in Week 11.

AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon in Frisco, Texas, contributed to this report.

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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) makes a touchdown catch past Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Cam Hart (20) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) prepares to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Injured Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels looks on before an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)