US President Donald Trump received on Friday, January 15, the Order of Muhammad, Morocco's highest award, a senior administration official told Reuters. Morocco's ambassador to the United States Lalla Joumala Alaoui gave Trump the award, also known as Ouissam Muhammadi, for his work in brokering the normalization deal between Israel and Morocco, the same source added. Trump senior advisor Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz received other awards for the Israel-Morocco deal, the news agency added. The award was given to President Trump during a private Oval Office ceremony. Media were not allowed to attend the ceremony. For the record, Morocco and Israel agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and reopen liaison offices in both Rabat and Tel Aviv following a deal brokered by the United States. On the same day, the United States recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara with a presidential decree.
