Republican Senator Jim Inhofe is one of the most staunch defenders of the Saharawi cause in the United States. On several occasions, he explained to Donald Trump during his tenure why the referendum should be supported. If Trump heard about the Sahara, it was thanks to this veteran conservative who knows the situation in the camps well. When Trump had a conversation with Inhofe, he knew what he needed to do to hurt him. On December 10, the outgoing US president wrote two tweets. In one he criticized Senator Inhofe, and in another he recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.

Rabat won a historic carom victory. In a subsequent proclamation, Donald Trump alludes to the Moroccan proposal for Saharan autonomy and calls it “the only serious, credible and realistic basis”. These are the same qualifiers used in the letter dated March 18, 2022 from the Kingdom of Morocco on the new position of the Spanish government on the Sahara. The only difference is that Moncloa’s letter speaks of “the most serious, reliable and realistic basis.”

With this 180-degree turnaround, Sanchez intended to close the diplomatic crisis fueled by anger in Rabat following a humanitarian visit to Spain for Saharawi leader Brahim Ghali for Covid-19 treatment in April 2021. Morocco used the weapon of migration, causing the arrival of about 10,000 people in Ceuta on May 15 and 16 of the following year. With this letter, the Sánchez government ended 47 years of active neutrality.

Trump’s announcement raised Moroccan expectations. Thus, Rabat increased the pressure on Germany, France or Spain.”

Irene Fernandez Molina, RRII Univ Exeter

“The change of position was the result of a campaign of pressure from Morocco. It all started with Trump’s announcement and it raised Moroccan expectations. They thought that other Western countries would follow the US. Thus, Rabat increased the pressure on Germany, France or Spain within the EU. It is Spain that has moved on since Trump,” says Irene Fernandez-Molina, Maghreb professor of international relations at the University of Exeter.

Witnessing that moment in Washington in the front row was Moulud Said, a veteran representative of the Polisario Front in the United States. The Saharan diplomat, who had known Senator Inhofe for more than two decades, was immediately aware of this. And the senator himself told him what had happened.

“The decision was not made at a meeting of the Trump administration. The reason was that the chairman of the defense committee, Senator Inhofe, was about to introduce a vote on the defense budget, and shortly before that, Trump called him to make last-minute amendments. The senator told him that he could not do it because the result, the result of negotiations in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and then in the mixed committee, was the only way for him to be approved. Trump dug in, and Senator Inhofe turned against the president. The last call ended badly. And then Trump posted two tweets, one against Inhofe and one about the Sahara. Without this call, Trump would not have taken this step,” said Mulud Said. Independent.

The outgoing president wanted Inhofe to include provisions in the bill to remove protections for social media companies and remove the provision to rename military installations named after Confederate leaders. But Republican Senator Inhofe couldn’t do that even if he wanted to. Everything was already closed. Trump threatened to veto the budget and tweeted that he was a threat to national security. He was furious that the senator stood up.

The decision was the result of Trump’s tantrum, who sought to provoke the wrath of Senator Inhoef.”

said Mulu, spokesman for the Polisario Front in the United States

“Trump knew very well how much the Sahara issue meant to Inhofe. Several times he explained the situation to Trump. The decision was the result of Trump’s hysterics, who sought to provoke the wrath of Senator Inhofe. When he told me, he was very upset,” adds the diplomat. “Until this point,” according to Mulud Said, “the relationship with the Trump administration was unprecedented, and there were contacts at the highest level, with the National Security Council.” Recall exactly how the Trump administration proposed in the UN Security Council to extend the MINURSO mission every six months instead of one year, which Morocco opposed.

Jared Kushner with Mohammed VI

Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jew Jared Kushner, who serves as a special adviser to his administration, along with his right-hand man Avi Berkowitz, advocated a rapprochement with Morocco. Former Mossad deputy director Ram Ben Barak and Moroccan Jewish businessman Yariv Elbaz wanted to conclude a multilateral agreement on mutually beneficial relations, under which Morocco would normalize relations with Israel in exchange for US recognition of the Moroccan Sahara. However, according to the Saharawi diplomat, Trump advised Kushner to look for an alternative path.

In May 2019, Trump’s son-in-law met in Morocco with Moroccan Jewish businessman Elbaz. On this trip, Kushner had the opportunity to speak with King Mohammed VI, who explained to him the importance of Western Sahara for Morocco. Since then, a direct link has been established between the team of Moroccan Foreign Minister Nassem Burita and Kouchner’s team. According to Axios, Burita held several meetings discussing the Sahara with Kushner and Ivanka Trump, his wife, and visited the White House.

The Moroccan diplomatic chief reached an agreement with Kouchner but met with strong opposition from then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and Senator Jim Inhofe. Because Trump needed Inhofe’s support, he took no action.

But on Dec. 10, when Trump tweeted about the Moroccanity of the Sahara, he was about to leave, even though he refused to admit it. In fact, a few days later there was an assault on the Capitol. The Moroccan embassy awarded Trump and Kushner after the attack, instigated by the president and carried out by his angry supporters, at the headquarters of the Legislative Assembly in Washington.

According to Bolton, Trump’s decision threw the Saharawi people to the ground and threw them to the feet of the horses “after three decades of US support for free self-determination through a referendum of the Saharan people.” He even recalls in an article in Foreign policyas Senator Inhofe already said, “this agreement can be made without violating the rights of people without the right to vote.”

Bolton also emphasizes that Trump did not consult with either the Polisario Front or Algeria or Mauritania, the two countries most affected by the change. So did Sanchez, who has not spoken to his government partner, the opposition, or to Algeria, a country with which Spain is now in conflict with serious economic consequences.

The Saharan diplomat claims that he did not do this to either his son-in-law or his advisers, although Axios’ version is that they took the opportunity to advance their theses.

The role of the Biden administration

In the United States, Saharawi’s cause is bipartisan. The Saharawi diplomat notes that Senator Ted Kennedy was one of the first Democrats with whom he maintained contacts and defended self-determination. “This is a case without ideology, so it’s understandable that a staunch conservative like Inhofe was one of our big supporters,” he adds.

An example of this bipartisan support is a letter from 27 Democratic and Republican senators, including then Senate President Patrick Leahy, asking him to reverse his predecessor’s decision on the Sahara.

So far, the Biden administration has not done so. But he made no progress either. “He failed to fulfill Trump’s commitments, such as opening a consulate in Dakhla. It also forced Rabat to accept a UN Special Envoy and they asked the UN Security Council to reactivate the United Nations plan,” says Mulud Saeed.

Trump’s deal was not completed because neither Morocco opened an embassy in Israel nor Israel recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.”

Hayzam Amira Fernandez, Rielcano

This vision is supported by Hayzam Amira Fernandez, principal researcher at the Royal Elcano Institute: “The Biden administration is talking about a ‘potential approach’ to what Rabat proposes and is advocating a solution within the United Nations. And they do not forget the aspirations of the people of the Sahara. Trump’s deal was not completed because neither Morocco opened an embassy in Israel nor Israel recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara to avoid conflicts with other countries that support them.

The Saharawi diplomat assures that Trump’s decision is not a decision for the current US administration. “In our contacts that we have, unlike the Spanish government, which we no longer trust, they always assure us that a decision that the POLISARIO does not take is not a valid decision.” And he adds: “The Americans are very active and want to play a role that the Spanish government is no longer capable of. Sanchez did not count on his coalition partners, nor on the Congress, nor on the Spanish people. This is a question for Sanchez and his foreign minister.”