‘Wasn’t on my charts’: Trump to tackle Sudan war after Saudi prince request

3 months ago 16

By Aamer Madhani

November 20, 2025 — 11.55am

Washington: US President Donald Trump says he will “start working” on resolving the war in Sudan after a request from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an indication the US may deepen its involvement in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.

Trump, who claims to have ended several wars since returning to office and has openly lobbied for the Nobel Peace Prize, admitted the conflict “wasn’t on my charts” before his conversation with the crown prince.

US President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Saudi investment forum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

“His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan,” Trump told US and Saudi business leaders in Washington, DC, during a joint appearance with the Saudi crown prince, who is visiting the US.

“It was not on my charts to be involved in that – I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control. But I just see how important it is to you and to a lot of your friends in the room.”

The president said he spoke in detail about the civil war with Mohammed, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, during their White House talks on Tuesday. The crown prince, Trump said, urged him to use the power and influence of the presidency to bring an end to the war, and his administration had begun working on the issue half an hour after Mohammed made the request.

“He mentioned Sudan yesterday, and he said, ‘Sir, you’re talking about a lot of wars, but there’s a place on earth called Sudan, and it’s horrible what’s happening,’ ” Trump said of his meeting with the crown prince on Tuesday.

Children from El Fasher find safety at a refugee camp in Tawila.

While Trump implied the US has so far stayed out of the war in the North African country, which has raged since April 2023, his administration in fact proposed a three-month ceasefire earlier this month. That plan was swiftly rejected by the Sudanese army, which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group that has captured much of the western half of the country.

The fighting for control of Sudan has killed tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands according to some sources, and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 14 million displaced. The RSF’s capture of the Darfur city of El Fasher last month, after an 18-month siege, prompted a global outcry after evidence emerged of mass killings of trapped civilians trying to flee.

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab have been tracking developments in the city using satellite imagery, and their latest report, published last week, suggests the RSF is still burning bodies and burying them in mass graves as they work to clean up atrocities committed across the city over the past month.

A satellite image taken on November 6 shows smoke from a fire lit at the Saudi Hospital in El-Fasher.

Satellite imagery taken between October 30 and November 6 at the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher shows a newly dug pit, objects placed in the pit, and the objects actively burning.

Earlier satellite images taken days after the city’s capture and analysed by the Yale lab showed dark stains on the sand, indicative of blood, and piles of long white shapes, later confirmed to be bodies.

The United Nations is now pushing for access to El Fasher to provide aid, with UN aid chief Tom Fletcher saying the city would be treated as a “crime scene” for investigations following the reports of systematic executions, detentions and rapes.

The International Organisation for Migration says nearly 90,000 people have left El Fasher and surrounding villages since the city fell on October 26, undertaking a perilous journey through unsafe routes where they have no access to food, water or medical assistance.

The fraction of those who escaped the city and made their way to a refugee camp in Tawila, 65 kilometres away, recount horrific stories of killings and sexual assaults witnessed or endured after the city fell to the RSF. Hundreds of children have also been turning up at the Tawila camp alone, The Washington Post reported, having seen their parents killed or losing them in the chaos.

Weeks-old babies have also been found en route to Tawila, clinging to their dead parents, The Washington Post reported, citing humanitarian groups.

The United Arab Emirates, a close US ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF, according to American intelligence findings, while Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have backed the Sudanese military.

At the US-Saudi investment forum in Washington on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), Trump said Mohammed had told him that bringing an end to the war “would be the greatest thing you can do, that would be greater than what you’ve already done”.

Trump’s comments come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week called for a halt to the flow of military support coming to the RSF from abroad.

Saudi officials, in part, have argued to the administration that a further unravelling of Sudan could result in instability in the Red Sea and Africa and create conditions for extremist groups to exploit the moment to spread terrorism in the Middle East and beyond.

Trump, following his remarks, said in a social media post that his administration would work with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and other Middle Eastern partners “to get these atrocities to end, while at the same time stabilising Sudan”.

“Tremendous atrocities are taking place in Sudan,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “It has become the most violent place on Earth and, likewise, the single biggest Humanitarian Crisis. Food, doctors, and everything else are desperately needed.”

Trump appeared with Mohammed as the crown prince wrapped up his first visit to Washington in seven years.

The crown prince believes Trump’s direct pressure is needed to break a logjam in talks to end the war, pointing to his work to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza last month, five people familiar with the matter said.

AP, Bloomberg, Reuters