Key Points

• Somalia’s President offered US “exclusive control” over Berbera port and airbase, assets firmly under Somaliland’s control since 1991.
• Somaliland’s President responded: “No one has authority to broker Somaliland’s territory, and Hassan Sheikh cannot even govern Mogadishu.”
• The offered facilities are partially operated by UAE’s DP World, which has invested $442 million in Berbera Port.
• Somaliland officials called the offer “patently ridiculous” and “a badly done SNL sketch.”
• Somalia receives approximately $1 billion yearly in US aid while being unable to deliver on its promises.
• AFRICOM is already in direct talks with Somaliland about Berbera’s strategic facilities, completely bypassing Mogadishu.
• This diplomatic overreach may accelerate US recognition of Somaliland’s de facto independence.

In a move that would make even the boldest con artists blush, Somalia has just attempted what might be the most audacious diplomatic swindle of the century – trying to gift America control over territories it hasn’t governed since George H.W. Bush was president.

In what might be the most brazen diplomatic fraud in recent memory, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has penned a letter to President Donald Trump offering “exclusive control” of strategic ports and airbases that Somalia hasn’t controlled since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.

Somaliland’s President Responds

The President of the Republic of Somaliland Dr. Abdirahman M Abdillahi “Cirro” has issued a direct and unequivocal response to this diplomatic fraud:

“No one has the authority to broker Somaliland’s territory, and Hassan Sheikh [Somalia’s President] does not even rule or control Mogadishu.”

This powerful statement from Somaliland’s highest office underscores the absolute rejection of Somalia’s presumption to offer territory it neither controls nor has any right to negotiate over, while pointedly highlighting Somalia’s failure to effectively control even its own capital.

The Deception: Promising Trump What Somalia Can’t Deliver

Reuters and Semafor have now confirmed the existence of this extraordinary March 16 letter, in which Somalia attempts to mislead the United States with “exclusive operational control” over Berbera port and airbase in Somaliland, and Bosaso port in Puntland – facilities where Somalia’s writ hasn’t run for over three decades.

The sheer audacity of this maneuver can’t be overstated: Somalia is offering President Trump exclusive control of facilities it doesn’t control, can’t access, and that are already partially operated by one of Trump’s strongest Middle Eastern allies, the UAE, through its DP World port operator.

A Brief History: Somaliland’s Independence

To understand the true absurdity of Somalia’s offer, one must remember that Somaliland reclaimed independence from Somalia in 1991 after the collapse of dictator Siad Barre’s regime. Since then, Somaliland has built a functioning democracy with its own currency, military, government institutions, and regular democratic elections. Meanwhile, Somalia has struggled to control even its own capital city without foreign peacekeepers.

No Somali official has set foot in Somaliland. Somalia has no administrative presence, security forces, or operational capability in the territory it now casually offers to the United States.

Somaliland Exposes the Charade

From the highest office to key ministries, Somaliland’s government has responded with a unified voice exposing Somalia’s deceptive ploy. After the President’s blunt assessment of Somalia’s inability to govern even Mogadishu, let alone broker Somaliland territory, other government officials have added their equally forceful rejections.

Somaliland’s US Representative Bashir Goth thoroughly dismantled Somalia’s fraudulent offer:

“The Republic of Somaliland strongly rejects Somalia’s impertinent offer of access and control of the Port of Berbera to the United States,” Goth declared before stating plainly that, “The Port of Berbera is unequivocally within the sovereign territory of the Republic of Somaliland.”

Goth revealed that Somaliland “has welcomed several AFRICOM delegations to assess how the U.S. can best utilize the Port of Berbera” and that the 2023 NDAA requires “U.S. secretaries of State and Defense are obligated to regularly update Congress on efforts to deepen defense, diplomatic, and development ties with Somaliland.”

Most devastatingly, Goth characterized Somalia’s attempted deception as an action that “would barely pass as a badly done SNL sketch and is patently ridiculous,” adding that President Trump “is wise enough to see through such a charade, which insults both him and the people of the U.S.”

Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Aden was equally direct when speaking to Reuters:

“The USA is not stupid. They know who they need to deal with when it comes to Berbera port.”

Expert Analysis: A Desperate Ploy

“Who are they to offer that access?” said Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They are offering this as a way of getting the US to recognize the legitimacy of the Somali state over these breakaway regions.”

Editor’s Note: While Hudson’s quote refers to “breakaway regions” plural, it’s important to clarify that Puntland and Somaliland have significantly different statuses. Puntland is a federal member state of Somalia that, despite periodic disagreements with Mogadishu, remains part of Somalia’s federal structure. Somaliland, on the other hand, withdrew from its union with Somalia, and fully restored its independence in 1991 and has held widely-acclaimed democratic elections for over three decades.

Former US Special Envoy Dr. Peter Pham exposed Somalia’s desperation: “It’s not enough that his PM & FM insult @POTUS & Mog is a $1 billion yearly drain on #USA taxpayers, but rump #Somalia’s @HassanSMohamud thinks Americans are so dumb that he can offer us key #Somaliland & #Puntland ports that he doesn’t even control!”

With President Trump’s “America First” doctrine threatening to shut off the financial spigot that has kept Somalia’s government afloat, Mogadishu is frantically trying to pull off yet another deception by promising military access it has absolutely no means to deliver.

The UAE Factor: Trying to Swindle Trump Out of His Ally’s Investment

Perhaps the most reckless aspect of Somalia’s scheme is that it casually offers control of facilities already operated by DP World – the flagship port operator owned by the United Arab Emirates, one of President Trump’s most valued international partners.

Does Mogadishu seriously believe it can trick America into disrupting a major UAE commercial operation? Does Somalia’s President think he can simply brush aside multi-million-dollar development agreements between Somaliland, Puntland, and the UAE?

Berbera Port, far from being some derelict backwater, has undergone a $442 million transformation under DP World’s stewardship. This includes a deep-sea terminal, a 17-meter draft, a 400-meter quay, and state-of-the-art gantry cranes. Expansion plans will push its capacity to 2 million TEUs annually. And yet, in some backroom fantasy, Mogadishu imagines it can override UAE-backed contracts with an empty letter to Washington.

The Facade Crumbles Under Basic Scrutiny

The fundamental question that exposes this entire diplomatic charade remains breathtakingly simple: How exactly does Somalia plan to deliver on this offer when it controls absolutely nothing in Berbera?

Somalia cannot secure its own capital without foreign forces, yet somehow believes it can deceive the Trump administration into thinking it can deliver operational control of territory where its officials would be arrested if they attempted to enter without Somaliland’s permission.

While Hassan Sheikh Mohamud daydreams about leasing out ports he has never seen, Al-Shabaab continues its stranglehold over key supply routes around Mogadishu. The terror group’s recent attacks on Beledweyne and the outskirts of the capital underscore just how little control the Somali government actually wields. It’s no surprise that Somalia’s leaders would rather fabricate foreign policy victories than deal with the grim reality that Mogadishu itself is on borrowed time.

The Bottom Line

Somalia’s letter represents not diplomacy but a desperate deception – a transparent attempt to maintain the flow of American taxpayer dollars as the Trump administration reassesses foreign aid that produces little return on investment.

Somalia’s Washington lobbyists – paid millions to orchestrate this scheme – undoubtedly promised that this fraudulent letter would not only reach the Oval Office but generate favorable press coverage painting Somalia as a crucial strategic partner.

What they couldn’t promise was that anyone – from President Trump to the UAE to AFRICOM – would fall for the obvious ploy that Somalia can offer exclusive control of ports it doesn’t own, can’t access, and where it has exercised zero authority for over 30 years.

As Goth suggested, President Trump is wise enough to recognize a deception when he sees one – especially when the scheme involves one of America’s strongest Middle Eastern allies and territory Somalia cannot possibly deliver.

What’s Next: The Diplomatic Fallout

This diplomatic fiasco may actually accelerate American recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty. With the letter exposing Somalia’s tenuous claims to territory it clearly doesn’t control, and AFRICOM already engaged in direct discussions with Somaliland officials, Trump’s administration has even more reason to reassess America’s one-Somalia policy.

For AFRICOM and the Pentagon, which prioritize strategic access and reliable partners over diplomatic fictions, Somalia’s overreach makes a stronger case for direct engagement with Hargeisa than any Somaliland diplomat could have made.

As President Trump reviews this diplomatic charade, the most likely outcome isn’t increased American engagement with Somalia – but rather, accelerated recognition of the reality on the ground: that Somaliland, not Somalia, controls Berbera, and any serious strategic partnership must be negotiated with Hargeisa, not Mogadishu.