On July 26, 2026, President Donald Trump posted a video claiming Morocco would name the Tiznit–Dakhla Expressway after him. Major news outlets reported the claim but cited Trump as the only public source, and Moroccan officials had not confirmed the renaming. The highway, completed in 2025, runs through disputed Western Sahara, where Morocco has pursued major infrastructure projects since 2015. Independent fact-checkers contacted officials and received no official confirmation, so the claim remains unverified.
Trump Says Morocco Will Name Major Sahara Highway After Him — No Official Confirmation
Mandel Ngan and Mamadoumamadou123, accessed via Getty Images and Wikimedia Commons, respectively. Illustrated by Snopes.
On July 26, 2026, President Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account claiming that Morocco would name a major highway the "President Donald J. Trump Highway." The footage—circulating widely on social platforms and cited by several news outlets—remains the only public source for the announcement.
What Was Claimed
The video describes the route as more than 1,000 kilometers (about 621 miles) long and connecting Tiznit in southwestern Morocco with Laayoune and Dakhla in the territory of Western Sahara. Observers noted the narrator’s hissy, high-frequency audio and clipped cadence, characteristics consistent with an AI-generated voice, though that detail could not be independently confirmed at the time of reporting.
The Road
The Tiznit–Dakhla Expressway is a real infrastructure project completed in 2025 as part of Morocco’s push to integrate and develop its southern provinces. The government has invested heavily in roads, ports and other projects in the region since about 2015; for example, Morocco is building a large port north of Dakhla that CNN reported is expected to be completed around 2028.
Verification Status
As of publication, Moroccan authorities had not issued any public statement confirming the renaming. Major outlets including Forbes, Bloomberg, El País and Hespress English reported the claim but cited Trump as the primary source. Independent fact-checkers contacted both the White House and Moroccan officials and had not received replies, so the reported renaming remains unverified.
Why Context Matters
The route crosses Western Sahara, a territory whose status is disputed. Formerly a Spanish colony, Western Sahara has been contested since Spain’s withdrawal in the mid-1970s. Morocco claims and occupies much of the territory; the United States recognized Moroccan sovereignty in 2020, and Israel followed in 2023, but most countries have not recognized Moroccan sovereignty. Many international actors instead support a UN-backed autonomy plan proposed in 2007.
Bottom line: The highway exists and Morocco has invested heavily in the region, but the specific claim that Morocco will officially rename the road for President Trump rests on Trump’s own video and has not been corroborated by Moroccan authorities or independent documentation.
Reporting referenced public coverage from Forbes, Bloomberg, El País and Hespress English, as well as coverage of regional infrastructure projects by CNN. Fact-checkers reached out to both the White House and Moroccan government for comment but had not received responses at the time of publication.
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