U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Monday that the government of Morocco named a major highway in his honor. The announcement, made on the Truth Social platform, follows his administration’s 2020 decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara territory. As of this report, Moroccan officials have not publicly confirmed the naming of the highway.
In his post, Trump thanked Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. The highway in question is the 1,055-kilometer (655-mile) Tiznit-Dakhla expressway, a project that connects cities in southern Morocco with Dakhla in the portion of Western Sahara administered by the country.
The context for the president’s statement dates back to December 2020, when the United States became the first major Western nation to formally recognize Morocco’s claim over the entirety of Western Sahara. This policy shift was part of the Abraham Accords, a series of U.S.-brokered agreements in which several Arab nations, including Morocco, normalized diplomatic relations with Israel.
The Tiznit-Dakhla highway, reported to have cost approximately $1 billion, became fully operational in January after a decade of construction. The route passes through Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, and extends to the Dakhla Peninsula. The Moroccan government has presented the highway and related projects, such as the Dakhla Atlantic Port, as part of its “Atlantic Initiative,” a plan to position the country as a trade hub connecting Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
The status of Western Sahara has been a subject of international dispute for decades. The territory is designated by the United Nations as a non-self-governing territory. Morocco administers and claims sovereignty over approximately 80% of the region, which it refers to as its “southern provinces.” The Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks independence for the territory and declared the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) after Spain, the former colonial power, withdrew in 1975.
A war between Morocco and the Polisario Front concluded in 1991 with a U.N.-brokered ceasefire. The agreement included provisions for a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people, but disputes over voter eligibility have prevented it from taking place. In November 2020, the Polisario Front announced it was ending its commitment to the 1991 ceasefire.
Following its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty, the Trump administration sponsored a U.N. Security Council resolution in October 2025 that called for negotiations based on Morocco’s proposal for autonomy for the region under its sovereignty.
Recent diplomatic efforts have taken place regarding the dispute. In February, U.S. officials reported facilitating discussions in Madrid between representatives from Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania to address the implementation of U.N. resolutions on Western Sahara.
