Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi responded on 16 July to United States President Donald Trump’s recent comments expressing concern over the potential impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Egypt’s water supply. Trump’s statement came after a 14 July meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
“If I am Egypt, I want to have water in the Nile, and we are working on that,” Trump stated during the meeting, emphasizing Egypt’s heavy dependence on the Nile River, which provides about 97 percent of the country’s water.
Calling the Nile “a very important source of income and life,” Trump added, “to take that away is pretty incredible. But we think we are going to have that solved very quickly.”
Trump has expressed confidence that the long-running dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia could soon be resolved.
President Al-Sisi posted on his official Facebook page, welcoming the remarks by Trump, viewing them as a reflection of the United States’ seriousness under his leadership in working to resolve conflicts and end wars.
The statement expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to address complex global challenges and to promote peace, stability, and security across the world, including in Ukraine, the Palestinian territories, and Africa.
Al-Sisi stated that Egypt appreciates President Trump’s commitment to reach a fair agreement that safeguards the interests of all parties involved in the dispute over the Ethiopian dam, and for his recognition of the Nile’s vital importance to Egypt as a source of life.
For almost ten years, Egypt and Sudan have urged Ethiopia to commit to a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, seeking to protect their water rights. Thus far, those efforts have failed to yield an agreement.
Egypt has consistently appealed to the international community, including the United States, to press Ethiopia to halt unilateral measures related to the dam and to uphold Cairo’s share of Nile River waters.
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