Polish Trump’s ego - or pay a “very dear” price…

South Africa's strained relationship with the United States has been dealt a second blow with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to boycott the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. In this interview with economist Dawie Roodt, he warns: “I think it's pretty much a given that we will not be part of AGOA that much longer - unless we really start taking extraordinary measures to get on the good side of Donald Trump. And if the relations deteriorate even further, I think there's a possibility that it could be some further actions against South Africa, something like levies or import duties. And we have to understand that if we don't polish this guy's ego for one, many other things that we need to do as well….If we don't do that, we're going to pay a very dear price. And South Africa simply cannot afford that.” Roodt also gives his take on Elon Musk’s role in the White House. And in his latest economic forecast, Roodt says: “We are in trouble. And it's not only Donald Trump that causes all of that. A lot of that is homemade because of the wrong policies that we've been following locally for, in fact, many decades.”