U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend the G20 meeting in South Africa, the top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding to the African country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday evening he was boycotting the G20 meeting in South Africa scheduled for later this month over the country's controversial land expropriation law.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told embassy officials that it was "not our intention" to uproot USAID staffers working abroad, despite the agency mandating their return.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the Trump administration was reaching out to U.S. Agency for International Development missions overseas to identify and designate programs that will be exempted from the sweeping stop-work orders.

US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle Gaza's population would only be temporary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. It follows Trump's suggestion that the US could "take over" Gaza and resettle the millions of Palestinians living there – an idea that has drawn criticism from the UN,