Trump promises US help to resolve war in Sudan, at request of Saudi crown prince

Washington — President Trump said the United States is getting involved in efforts to make peace in Sudan amid an ongoing civil war there, at the request of his “very good friend” Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

Trump made the announcement Wednesday while speaking at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington, a day after a long meeting with the crown prince, known as MBS, in the Oval Office. The State Department has already said that the United States has been working with international partners, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, to negotiate an end to the war, but the president said he sees the situation “differently now than he did just a day ago.”

The people of Sudan are suffering a staggering humanitarian crisis, while the two and a half years war takes its toll. The power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced millions of people, caused famine and led to allegations of genocide. Trump said he did not plan to get involved in the years-long conflict in Sudan, but the crown prince suggested he add Sudan to his list of peace deals he has helped negotiate. The United Nations says what is happening in Sudan is the largest humanitarian crisis on Earth.

“His Majesty would like me to do something very powerful that has to do with Sudan,” Trump told his audience at the US-Saudi business forum. “It wasn’t in my plans to get involved in that… But I see how important it is to you and many of your friends in the room, Sudan, and we are going to start working on Sudan.”

The president’s announcement was received with great applause in the room. Trump said his administration began working toward peace in Sudan about half an hour after his meeting with MBS concluded on Tuesday.

“And you know we’ve already started working on that, okay?” said.

Earlier this month, a State Department spokesperson told reporters The Trump administration was engaging directly with the RSF and the Sudanese military, and called on both sides to “move forward in response to the US-led effort to conclude a humanitarian truce, given the immediate urgency to reduce violence and end the suffering of the Sudanese people.”

But the president’s push for action draws more attention to the region, while highlighting MBS’s influence. Trump highlighted his excellent relationship with MBS, as well as the “great wealth” the Saudis are investing in the US.

MBS announced Tuesday in the Oval Office that a planned $600 billion investment in the United States by Saudi entities would be closer to $1 trillion. The two leaders also signed what the president called a “historic” and “strategic” defense agreement, and the United States will sell the Saudis extensive military equipment.

that of the crown prince visit It has been full of fanfare, with a military plane flyover, cannon firing and an elaborate White House dinner with some of the world’s richest people. But more significant for MBS is what Trump has said on camera about the country’s leader with a problematic human rights record.

Even though Trump’s intelligence agencies determined in 2018 that the crown prince ordered the murder of journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, Trump reclaimed in the Oval Office that MBS “didn’t know anything about it.” The president criticized journalists for asking questions about Khashoggi and Saudi involvement in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The victims’ families are suing the Saudi government, and a federal judge who reviewed thousands of pages of evidence from the attacks concluded that the families can move forward with their case.

“Today we have an extremely respected man in the Oval Office and a long-time friend of mine, a very good friend of mine,” Trump said Tuesday. “I’m very proud of the work, what he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”