US takes G20 Presidency from SA: Is new theme ode to Frank Sinatra?
South Africa’s theme of ‘Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability’ is now history, with the US taking over the G20 Presidency and the body’s social media platforms.
As of 1 December 2025, the presidency of the G20 has now been transferred to the United States, after South Africa concluded its stint with a lauded Leaders’ Summit on 23 November 2025.
The United States – set to hold the G20 Presidency until November 2026, closing off with a summit in Miami – wasted no time in redecorating and stamping their presence on the official website and social media channels.
And although not yet confirmed, it seems the Donald Trump administration has already chosen a theme, moving swiftly from South Africa’s “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability“.
If, indeed, “The Best Is Yet To Come” is the US’s theme for their presidency, they have a lot of work to do to displace Frank Sinatra’s song of the same from Google search results, .
South Africa hands over G20 Presidency keys to United States
Asked on X (Twitter) if South Africa had included social media passwords in the handover to the United States, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) deputy director-general, Clayson Monyela, responded in the affirmative.
“We did, yes. Part of the G20 Presidency handover from South Africa to the USA included providing access credentials [login details] of the official G20 social media accounts and website,” posted Monyela on X.
The handover was done last week in Pretoria, with DIRCO officials giving all materials to a US Embassy official – a result that came about after Trump boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg, and instead chose to delegate a lowly diplomat – a chargé d’affaires – to engage with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa refused – instead opting for the lowkey DIRCO handover – enraging Trump and resulting in the US president disinviting Pretoria from the 2026 summit in Miami.