Trump: Morocco naming highway after him in disputed Western Sahara

Topline

President Donald Trump on Sunday indicated Morocco was naming a 655-mile highway after him, thanking the African nation’s king and calling it “such an honor” in a post on Truth Social accompanied by an announcement video for the new roadway—although few other details about the naming are known at this time.

Key Facts

• The “President Donald J. Trump Highway” stretches 1,055 kilometers (over 655 miles) down Morocco’s coastline, according to the announcement video shared by Trump, connecting the city of Tiznit to Laayoune and Dakhla, both in the Moroccan-controlled disputed territory of Western Sahara.
• The president thanked Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and said he looked forward to “traveling the entire length of this Great Highway someday, hopefully soon!”
• The accompanying video thanked Trump for his “historic courage”—Trump previously supported Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara in 2025 and during his first term, which is still disputed by the Polisario Front independence group.
• The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

Key Background

Morocco has occupied most of Western Sahara since 1975 and has been locked in a frozen conflict with the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state in the territory. Trump first recognized Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara in 2020, offering it as part of a deal for Morocco signing on to the Abraham Accords—the landmark agreement that normalized relations between Israel and some Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa. During his second term in office, the Trump administration reaffirmed U.S. support for Morocco’s claim and agreed to encourage U.S. investors to fund infrastructure projects in the territory in 2025. Morocco has been building a $1 billion deepwater port in the territory’s city of Dakhla, which featured in the video Trump shared Sunday.