Asked by a reporter why he was welcoming white South Africans to the U.S. as refugees, President Donald Trump said there was "a genocide that's taking place" against white farmers in the country. Experts say the president is misapplying that term.

Within hours of the newscast, Mr. Trump had fired off a tweet claiming that there was “large-scale killing” of white farmers in South Africa, and that he had directed the State Department to “closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations.”

American officials welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday afternoon, in a ceremony greeting them as refugees based on the argument that they are fleeing discrimination and racially based violence in their home country.