U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to work together with Egypt in the fight against Islamist extremism as he moves to improve relations between the two nations.
In a meeting with visiting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Trump praised the Egyptian leader’s rule, saying he had done a fantastic job.
“I just want to let everybody know in case there was any doubt that we are very much behind President Sisi. He’s done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation. We are very much behind Egypt and the people of Egypt,” Trump said in an Oval Office meeting with the Egyptian leader.
This is President al-Sisi’s first official visit to the United States since his election in 2014.
Relations between Egypt and the U.S. were strained under President Barack Obama’s rule. Obama is said to have allowed his administration the freewill to admonish al-Sisi’s government over its human rights record.
Obama froze aid to Egypt for two years after Sisi, then a general, overthrew President Mohamed Mursi in mid-2013 after mass protests against Mursi’s rule. Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood member, had been elected the previous year.
The one-on-one meeting between Trump and Sisi, followed by a separate gathering with top aides, showed how intent the new U.S. president is on rebooting the bilateral relationship and building on the strong connection the two presidents established when they first met in New York last September.
“I just want to say to you, Mr President, that you have a great friend and ally in the United States, and in me,” Trump said.
