Morocco expects a strengthening of cooperation with the United States with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Rabat hopes that the American president, who had recognized the Moroccan character of the Sahara during his previous mandate, will proceed, as he announced five years ago, to the opening of an American consulate in Dakhla.
Trump’s return to the White House opens a new chapter in Moroccan-American relations. In December 2020, at the end of his first term, Trump recognized the Moroccan nature of the Sahara in a post on X. The American president also immediately announced the opening of an American consulate in Dakhla, in the Moroccan Sahara. A project that remained a dead letter under the administration of Joe Biden.
Read: Donald Trump back: towards a new milestone in Moroccan-American relations?
It is therefore with great enthusiasm that Rabat welcomed the election of Trump in the presidential election on November 5, nourishing the hope that the new American president will realize this American consulate project in Dakhla. The opening of this consulate would represent a major diplomatic step forward for Morocco, which already has the support of France, Germany, Spain and Israel on this Sahara issue. These countries believe that the Moroccan autonomy plan is the “most just and credible” solution to the Sahara conflict.
-Read: Sahara: Towards an outcome with the return of Donald Trump?
Moroccan political observers also see this return of Trump as an opportunity to strengthen the diplomatic achievements obtained during his first term. But, analysis The Worldthe new Trump administration could face international pressure from Algeria, an ally of the Polisario Front, and other countries supporting the Sahrawi independence movement, aimed at getting it to reverse its position on the Sahara.
Morocco
