Trump upbeat after speaking to Egypt leader on Gaza, Yemen
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A phone call between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (left) and US President Donald Trump went ”very well”.
PHOTOS: AFP, EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on April 1 that he had a positive conversation with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on issues including Gaza, where Washington has proposed displacement of the population.
“My telephone call with President Sisi of Egypt went very well,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He said that the two spoke about the “tremendous military progress” by the US in strikes against Yemen’s Houthi insurgents,
Mr Trump said, without explanation, that “also discussed was Gaza, and possible solutions, military preparedness, etc”.
Mr Trump stunned the region in February Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, came up with its own plan that would finance reconstruction of the territory. The US State Department replied at the time that it did not meet Washington’s expectations.
Mr Trump has had close relations with Mr Sisi, famously being reported to have called him “my favourite dictator” during a meeting in 2019.
Egypt has been one of the top recipients of US aid since it became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, with Washington brushing aside human rights concerns, including what rights groups say is the detention of tens of thousands of political prisoners under Mr Sisi’s rule.
The US gives more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) in military assistance a year to Egypt, with Mr Trump exempting it from sweeping cuts in US aid. AFP
