US President Donald Trump said he would intervene in Sudan’s civil war at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, confirming an exclusive report by Middle East Eye that Riyadh planned to lobby Trump for direct intervention.
“His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan. It was not on my charts to be involved in that,” Trump said, calling the war “something that was crazy and out of control”.
“I see how important that is to you [the Saudi crown prince]…We are going to start working on Sudan,” Trump said.
MEE reported last week that Mohammad bin Salman was going to lobby Trump over the UAE’s support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
Rising tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi prompted the Saudi leader’s decision. The Saudi leader told Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdul Fattah al-Burhan that he would engage directly with Trump on the war.
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“He [the Saudi crown prince] sees an opportunity to drive a wedge between Trump and MBZ,” a western official familiar with plans to discuss Sudan told MEE, referring to Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Trump announced the discussions on Wednesday at a US-Saudi investment conference. Reuters later cited the MEE report.
“Tremendous atrocities are taking place in Sudan. It has become the most violent place on Earth and, likewise, the single biggest Humanitarian Crisis,” Trump said on Truth Social, shortly after promising Saudi Arabia’s crown prince that he would get involved.
The UAE
A Sudanese source briefed on the earlier call between Mohammed bin Salman and Burhan said that the general told the crown prince there was no way the war in Sudan would end without US pressure on the UAE. The source told MEE that Mohammed bin Salman promised Burhan he would raise the issue with Trump.
Mohammed bin Salman expected to lobby Trump over UAE role in Sudan, sources say
An Arab diplomat in the region told MEE that Abu Dhabi was anticipating that Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington would lead to more US pressure.
Following the MEE report, there were signs that the US was growing frustrated with the UAE.
Without naming the UAE, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the RSF’s supporters. The UAE denies supporting the group, despite widespread evidence to the contrary.
“I think our biggest problem right now – not to single them out, but we need to – is what the RSF has done in recent weeks, is that they don’t have manufacturing capabilities. Someone’s giving them the money and someone’s giving them the weapon, and it’s coming through some country,” Rubio said.
“We know who they are, and we’re going to talk to them about it and make them understand that this is – it’s going to reflect poorly on them, it’s going to reflect poorly on the world, if we can’t stop this,” he said.
MEE reported in January 2024 that the UAE was supplying the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances spanning Libya, Chad, and Uganda.
Sudan’s war began in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the SAF, led by Burhan, and the RSF, led by former Janjaweed commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a close ally of the UAE’s better known as Hemedti, spiralled into open conflict.
While Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a mediator to the conflict, multiple Sudanese and western sources have told MEE that Riyadh’s preference throughout the war has been the perceived stability offered by the SAF.