Embattled outgoing US President Donald Trump on Friday received Morocco’s highest award for his work in advancing a normalisation deal between Israel and Morocco.
Trump received the Order of Muhammad award in a private ceremony in his Oval Office, presented to him by Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui, Morocco’s ambassador to the United States.
The Order of Muhammad is an award given only to heads of state. It was a gift from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI to President Trump.
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz also got other awards from the Moroccan King for their work on the Israel-Morocco deal, which was reached in December.
Donald Trump leadership helped broker deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in the last five months.
However, the deal was not sealed without heavy criticism because Trump agreed that the US would recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
President Trump’s tenure ends on Wednesday, having lost his second term bid to Joe Biden.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK