'Wasn't on my charts': Trump to help solve Sudan war, but only because Saudi prince told him to act

US President Donald Trump wants to add another feather to his "peacemaker" cap. On Wednesday (Nov 19), he promised to throw the weight of the US presidency behind efforts to end Sudan's brutal civil war. But what caused the sudden shift? This apparently came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pressed him to step in, something Trump admitted he had barely thought about until now.

Sudan was not on 'my charts,' admits Trump

Speaking at a business forum with the Saudi prince, a day after hosting him at the White House, Trump said the conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had simply "not been on my charts." But he said the scale of the violence and the importance Riyadh placed on the issue pushed him to act to "stabilise" the conflict with regional powers.

What this really means is that Washington will now tie itself more closely to a war that, as per the United Nations, has already killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people since April 2023. "His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump said.

"It was not on my charts to be involved in, I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control. But I just see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we're going to start working on Sudan," he added.

'Crazy and out of control' war in Sudan

What Trump called "just something that was crazy and out of control" is actually the fighting between Sudan’s army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces. It has drawn in regional powers and triggered warnings of genocide, crimes against humanity, especially after the RSF captured the strategic Darfur city of El Fasher.

Sudan's Saudi-backed sovereign council welcomed Trump's remarks, saying it was ready to cooperate with the United States and Saudi Arabia. The United Nations has been calling for this kind of attention for months, describing Sudan as a humanitarian disaster sliding further into chaos.

A few hours after his initial statement, Trump sharpened his tone on Truth Social, calling Sudan "the most violent place on Earth" and pledging to use ""influence of the presidency to bring an immediate halt" to the killing. Noting that "tremendous atrocities are taking place in Sudan," he said the US would work with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and other regional players to stabilise the country.