WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post that he won’t quickly follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recognizing the independence of Somaliland — saying he has to “study” his longtime Mideast ally’s pitch on behalf of the breakaway republic.
Israel on Friday became the world’s first country to recognize Somaliland’s split from anarchic Somalia and Netanyahu vowed to deliver a message to Trump, with whom he is meeting Monday.
“I’ll communicate to President Trump your willingness and desire to join the Abraham Accords,” Netanyahu told Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi in a video call celebrating the diplomatic breakthrough.
But Trump said that he wasn’t swayed and expects his talks with Netanyahu will prioritize the Gaza Strip, where Trump brokered an October cease-fire and now chairs a United Nations-approved Board of Peace to oversee implementation and reconstruction.
“Just say, ‘No, comma, not at this —,’” Trump told The Post in a phone interview, before modifying his answer on recognizing Somaliland to: “Just say, ‘No.’”
“Does anyone know what Somaliland is, really?” Trump asked aloud from his golf course in West Palm Beach.
Trump sounded unimpressed by the Muslim-majority state offering to join the Abraham Accords — through which Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the UAE established relations with Israel — and equally unimpressed by Somaliland’s offer of land for a US naval base near the mouth of the Red Sea.
Asked about Somaliland’s offer to the US of a port on the strategically important Gulf of Aden, Trump dismissively replied, “Big deal.”
“Everything is under study,” the president added.
“We’ll study it. I study a lot of things and always make great decisions and they turn out to be correct.”
Gen. Dagvin Anderson, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, visited Somaliland last month, buoying local hopes for a deal with the US, as some of Trump’s key MAGA loyalists rally behind the little-known region.
One of Trump’s most ardent allies in Congress, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) is the sponsor of the “Republic of Somaliland Independence Act,” with cosponsors including Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.).
Trump has spent recent weeks railing against Somalia and its citizens ripping off US taxpayers in Minnesota, where state government officials have pinned the blame on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in last year’s election.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate, has been de facto independent of the formerly Italian-ruled bulk of Somalia since 1991 and has built a relatively stable democracy with peaceful transitions of power — unlike the Mogadishu-based central government, which has been beset by civil war.
Mogadishu is the birthplace of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who opposes autonomy for the northern region, declaring, “As long as I’m in Congress, no one will take over the seas belonging to the nation of Somalia.”
The breakaway nation has strong relations with neighboring Ethiopia and the UAE, but other countries such as Egypt and Turkey advocate against its independence.
Trump said in August that he was considering granting Somaliland recognition, saying at the time: “We’re looking into that right now. Good question, actually. And another complex one, as you know. But we’re working on that right now — Somaliland.”
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