Morocco Names Key Highway for Trump

Morocco has quietly turned a key desert highway into a tribute to the US president, the BBC reports. A newly published letter from King Mohammed VI confirms that the former Tiznit-Dakhla route—running more than 650 miles into the disputed Western Sahara—has been renamed in honor of Donald Trump. The king called the road a "strategic axis" linking northern Morocco to what Rabat describes as the country's southern provinces. In the July 2 letter, he praised Trump's 2020 decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, calling it a "historic" move that would remain in Moroccans' memory "from generation to generation."

The road—now known as the Donald J. Trump Highway, per the Hill—cuts through territory claimed by both Morocco and the Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the local Sahrawi people. While the UN still classifies Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory and backs a long-promised referendum that has never happened, some European governments have recently shifted toward supporting Morocco's plan to grant autonomy, but not independence, to Western Sahara. Trump, who had already thanked the king in a Truth Social post before Morocco confirmed the move, said he hopes to drive the full length of the road "someday, hopefully soon." The Jerusalem Post reports it's Morocco's longest highway.