In brief
The king’s letter confirms a major Moroccan highway will bear Donald Trump’s name, a gesture highlighted by Trump on social media. The road, formerly known as the Tiznit‑Dakhla highway, cuts through Western Sahara, a territory Morocco claims sovereignty over. Trump’s post, which noted the road’s cost of nearly $1 billion, echoes the 2020 US‑Morocco agreement that recognized Morocco’s claim to the disputed region in exchange for normalisation with Israel. The renaming underscores the unusually close ties between the two leaders.
A letter from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has confirmed that the country has officially named a 1,055‑km (655‑mile) trunk road after former U.S. President Donald Trump. The announcement came after Trump thanked the king on Truth Social for the honour, a gesture that had not yet been formally announced by Moroccan officials.
In the letter, dated 2 July, the king highlighted the president’s “historic recognition…of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara,” noting it would “be forever etched in the memory of Moroccans.” The highway, formerly the Tiznit‑Dakhla route, spans from Morocco’s north‑west to its southern regions and passes through Western Sahara, an area Morocco claims but which is partially controlled by the Polisario Front.
Western Sahara remains a non‑self‑governing territory according to the UN, with the African Union and several European countries siding with Morocco’s autonomy plan while opposing outright independence. Trump’s post mentioned the road’s construction cost of nearly $1 billion, expressing eagerness to “travel the entire length of this great highway someday.”
The renaming follows the 2020 US–Morocco agreement that recognised Morocco’s claim over the disputed region in return for normalising relations with Israel. The gesture further cements the close political ties between the two leaders amid ongoing tensions over Western Sahara.
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