Inhofe slams Trump administration on Western Sahara policy

Inhofe’s remarks come as the Trump administration is preparing to sell arms to Morocco in the wake of its normalization agreement with Israel, according to congressional aides. Congress will have 30 days to block the sale once the White House formally notifies Capitol Hill of the expected transfer.

Trump took a similar path with the United Arab Emirates, moving to sell the Gulf nation $23 billion worth of munitions after it inked a normalization agreement with Israel. In a pair of votes Wednesday, the Senate failed to block that sale.

The United States’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara is a break from the United Nations, the African Union, the International Court of Justice and the European Union. Morocco and the Polisario Front have long fought over the sovereignty of the former Spanish North African territory.

In his speech, Inhofe praised President Donald Trump for his efforts to encourage recognition of Israel but said he hoped the United States would reverse its position on Western Sahara and called for a referendum for self-determination for the Sahrawi people.

“There is not a country out there that recognizes the right of Morocco over Western Sahara,” Inhofe said. “I will make every effort to make sure that we will go back to the policy that we had.”

Inhofe’s disagreement with the White House over Western Sahara’s sovereignty also coincides with his efforts to get the National Defense Authorization Act through Congress. Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA because it does not include a repeal of Section 230, which provides legal immunity for social media companies. Inhofe has argued that Section 230 is not relevant to the defense bill and Senate Republicans earlier this week vowed to override a potential veto.

Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.