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Western Sahara: Why Trump Could Not Change the Status of Guam or the Virgin Islands — Yet Morocco Believes It Can Do So in the Sahara

Since 1963, the Western Sahara has been listed by the United Nations among the non-self-governing territories, awaiting the completion of the process of decolonization. This status means, in legal terms, that the fate of the territory can only be determined through a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination, in accordance with the UN Charter and successive resolutions of the General Assembly.

Yet, in 2020, Morocco sought to exploit a unilateral recognition by former U.S. President Donald Trump of its alleged sovereignty over the territory—a political transaction tied to the normalization agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

However, despite its media resonance, this move has no legal weight under international law, especially when compared to Trump’s own inability to alter the legal status of territories administered by the United States for decades.

The United States and Its Non-Self-Governing Territories: Sovereignty on Hold

The United States administers several territories classified by the United Nations as non-self-governing, including:
  • Guam,
  • The U.S. Virgin Islands,
  • American Samoa.

Under Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, states that administer non-self-governing territories do not exercise full sovereignty over them. They are bound by the UN to promote the political and economic development of these territories and to submit regular reports on their progress.

Even former President Donald Trump, known for his expansionist ambitions and his remarks about purchasing Greenland, was unable to change the legal status of these territories.

No referendums were held, no territory was removed from the UN list, and the United States was granted no “complete sovereignty” over them.

In other words, even the world’s most powerful state cannot override international law when it comes to the right of peoples to self-determination.

Western Sahara: A Manufactured Sovereignty and a Diplomatic Illusion

Unlike the United States, Morocco is not recognized as an administering power in the Western Sahara. Since Spain’s withdrawal in 1975, the territory has been without any internationally recognized administrative authority.

Neither Morocco nor any other state holds legal sovereignty over it until the decolonization process is completed under UN supervision.

Trump’s declaration of December 2020 was nothing more than a short-sighted political bargain—normalization in exchange for recognition. No resolution of the Security Council endorsed this stance, nor did any UN body act upon it.

It was a temporary political gesture, akin to a diplomatic tweet, incapable of altering a legal reality established by international law for six decades.

While Washington acknowledges the limits of its own authority over its non-self-governing territories, Morocco entertains the illusion that the signature of an American president can annul history, geography, and law all at once.

A Stark Contradiction and a Lesson in International Law

The contradiction could not be clearer:
  • The United States, despite its global power, recognizes that it does not possess full sovereignty over its non-self-governing territories.
  • Morocco, which is not even an “administering power,” claims complete sovereignty over a territory it occupies by force.
  • Meanwhile, international law stands firm and unchanging: no sovereignty without the will of the people, no legitimacy without a referendum.

The United Nations has consistently affirmed that the people of Western Sahara alone have the right to determine their future. Neither the United States, nor France, nor Morocco can grant or withdraw that right, for it is not a political privilege but a sacred legal principle enshrined in the UN Charter.

Conclusion: Sovereignty Is Not Bestowed — It Is Earned Through Legitimacy

The case of Western Sahara reveals the very essence of legal truth in international relations:

sovereignty cannot be imposed from without; it must emerge from the will within.

No president, however powerful, can sign away a people’s right to self-determination.

International law is not a negotiable political contract—it is a moral and binding framework that shields nations from the tyranny of power and the arrogance of might.

The referendum remains the only legitimate path to a just and lasting solution.

And Western Sahara, like Guam or the Virgin Islands, remains a land awaiting freedom, not a bargaining chip in the marketplace of normalization and concessions.

By Belgacem Merbah



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