Trump’s Global Peace Offensive
The Trump foreign-policy orbit is actively pushing to end wars around the globe. For months, stretching from Cambodia to Ukraine, President Trump and his foreign policy team have launched aggressive diplomatic interventions across several continents, insisting that America has the leverage to break seemingly unmovable deadlocks.
Now the administration has turned its focus to Sudan, where a brutal civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe. Millions have been uprooted, entire cities devastated, and famine warnings upgraded from possible to imminent.
The war has spilled into neighboring regions, threatening to destabilize the Red Sea corridor in ways reminiscent of the Houthi aggressions of recent years. The latest peace push began after a direct appeal from the Saudi Crown Prince during a state visit to the White House. What followed were consultations with Egypt and the UAE, pressure calls to both Sudanese factions, and a coordinated plan for a three-month humanitarian ceasefire.
The North African Context
Sudan’s centrality in Trump’s peace agenda is tied to a wider North African conflict landscape: Libya’s ongoing political vacuum, rising tensions between Morocco and Algeria over Western Sahara, mass displacement stretching into Chad and South Sudan, and a set of regional rivalries spanning Cairo to Riyadh.
Massad Boulos, senior advisor to President Trump for Arab and Africa affairs, has crafted a diplomatic posture - formal, process-driven, and protocol-savvy - that has managed to bring the warring parties in Sudan to a temporary halt.
He has repeatedly stressed that the Sudan crisis is “the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe,” while leveraging momentum from a successful UN vote on Western Sahara to push for immediate humanitarian access. In messaging to regional partners, Boulos argues that Sudan is no longer a contained conflict but a destabilizing force with far-reaching regional implications.
Can Trump End the Sudan War?
The question now is whether this diplomatic push can actually halt the fighting. Trump’s team is banking on de-escalation, referencing recent regional breakthroughs, such as the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas, and attempting to apply similar stabilizing maneuvers in Sudan.
The latest ceasefire plan has received mixed signals: the RSF has expressed support, while the Sudanese army offered polite public approval but simultaneously vowed to continue military operations, a familiar dynamic of rhetorical openness masking deep mistrust.
Complicating matters further, the European Union has imposed targeted sanctions on Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF’s deputy commander, increasing international pressure at a delicate moment. Meanwhile, both sides still believe they can secure military gains, emboldened by advanced weaponry and foreign support.
Achieving a durable ceasefire would be more than a diplomatic win, it could prevent another state collapse, reduce mass starvation, stabilize borders, and reshape Africa’s security landscape. Sudan is becoming the ultimate test of Trump’s revived foreign-policy ambitions. If his team’s assertive, personality, driven diplomacy can secure even a temporary halt to Sudan’s bloodshed, it may mark not just a new headline but a defining moment for an entire foreign-policy era.
Moataz Khalil
Moataz Khalil is an Egyptian journalist specializing in Middle East affairs, with experience working for several Arab newspapers and media outlets across Egypt and the region.
