Morocco names highway through disputed Western Sahara after Trump

• Morocco has officially named its Tiznit-Dakhla highway in the disputed Western Sahara after US President Donald Trump, citing his 2020 recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory.

Morocco has officially named a major highway linking the country's south to the disputed territory of Western Sahara after US President Donald Trump, the state-run Moroccan News Agency (MAP) reported on Saturday.

According to MAP, the "Donald J. Trump Expressway" is the highway connecting the cities of Tiznit and Dakhla. The announcement was made as the agency published a letter sent by King Mohammed VI to Trump on July 2, informing him of the decision.

In the letter, King Mohammed VI praised Trump's 2020 recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, describing it as a historic decision that "will remain engraved in the memory of Moroccans."

"In gratitude for this gesture, inspired by the values of friendship and peace, and as an expression of my personal appreciation, I have decided to give your name to one of the Kingdom's largest roads," the king wrote. He added that the 1,055-kilometre highway is "the largest road infrastructure project in Africa."

Trump announced in December 2020 that the United States recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat normalizing diplomatic relations with 'Israel' under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Morocco controls most of the vast, phosphate- and fish-rich territory, which was a Spanish colony until 1975. However, the United Nations continues to classify Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory, and the region has been the subject of a decades-long dispute between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence.

Earlier this week, in a message marking the 27th anniversary of King Mohammed VI's accession to the throne, Trump reaffirmed Washington's support for Morocco's autonomy proposal for Western Sahara. The letter, also published by MAP on Saturday, said the Moroccan initiative remains, in the US view, "the only basis for a just and lasting solution."

"Any other course would only prolong the current situation, which is unacceptable," Trump wrote.

On July 26, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he was honored by reports that Morocco planned to name the highway after him.

"Thank you to His Majesty King Mohammed VI... What a great honor!" Trump wrote. "I look forward to driving the entire length of this great highway someday, hopefully soon."

At the time, Moroccan authorities had not officially confirmed the naming.

Trump also shared a four-minute aerial video highlighting the Tiznit-Dakhla highway project, which was launched by King Mohammed VI in 2015 as part of Morocco's broader investment strategy in Western Sahara.

The project, which remains under construction, includes an expressway linking Tiznit with Laayoune before continuing to Dakhla via an upgraded national road. The total cost is estimated at around 850 million euros.