Trump promises to get involved in stopping a war at the request of Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He says he started working “just half an hour” after the request
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, received at the White House by US President Donald Trump. Photo credit: Nathan Howard-Pool / Zuma Press / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would try to help end the war in Sudan after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to get involved, according to Reuters.
“We've already started working on it,” Trump told an investment conference in Saudi Arabia, a day after meeting at the White House with the kingdom's de facto ruler.
Trump told attendees at the event, which included the crown prince and his delegation, that the Washington administration began working on the issue “just half an hour” after bin Salman made the request during a meeting on Tuesday.
Trump later said in a social media post that the United States would work with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other Middle Eastern states to end atrocities in the region and stabilize Sudan.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in 2023 amid a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries ahead of a planned transition to a civilian government. The war has caused ethnic violence, widespread destruction and massive displacement, drawing in outside powers and threatening to fragment Sudan.
Trump: “He said to me, 'Sir, you talk about many wars, but there is a place on earth called Sudan'”
Saudi Arabia's crown prince believes direct pressure from Trump is needed to unlock negotiations aimed at ending a war that has lasted more than two and a half years, five people familiar with the talks said. He also cited Trump's role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza last month.
The Saudi leader appeared to be betting on Trump's view of himself as a peace negotiator, according to his account.
“He mentioned Sudan to me yesterday and said, 'Sir, you talk about a lot of wars, but there's a place on earth called Sudan, and what's happening there is horrible,'” Trump said.
For Saudi Arabia, a solution to the conflict is directly related to national security, given the hundreds of kilometers of Sudanese coastline that lie opposite the Saudi shores of the Red Sea.
“Terrible atrocities are taking place in Sudan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It has become the most violent place on earth and also the biggest humanitarian crisis. There is a desperate need for food, doctors and everything else.”
