Morocco names Tiznit-Dakhla highway after Trump: Why it matters

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that US President Donald Trump said Morocco had named a major road after him, a claim Rabat had not publicly confirmed at the time of the report. Trump thanked King Mohammed VI in a Truth Social post on Monday and referred to the route as the “Great Highway.” The reported tribute concerns the Tiznit-Dakhla highway, a 1,055km road completed in January after about a decade of work and estimated to have cost around $1bn.

The highway links southern Morocco to Mauritania, passing through Guelmim, Tan-Tan and Laayoune in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara before reaching Dakhla, where Morocco is developing the Dakhla Atlantic Port. Al Jazeera framed the road as part of Rabat’s wider infrastructure push in Western Sahara and its ambition to position Morocco as a trade corridor between Europe, Africa and the Sahel, including through its Atlantic Initiative for landlocked Sahel states.

The political context is central. Morocco claims Western Sahara as its “southern provinces,” while the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks independence for the territory. A UN-backed ceasefire in 1991 was intended to lead to a self-determination referendum, but that process remains stalled. In December 2020, during Trump’s presidency, the United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara after Morocco joined the Abraham Accords and normalised relations with Israel.

Al Jazeera cited analyst Intissar Fakir as saying a Moroccan gesture toward Trump would fit the benefits Rabat received under his administrations, especially on Western Sahara. The article also noted Washington’s October 2025 support for a UN Security Council resolution advancing negotiations based on Morocco’s autonomy plan, a position opposed by Algeria and the Polisario Front.