Focus in relationship with Cairo shifts toward security matters
The visit appeared to go well for the Egyptian leader: He received coveted photos posing with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office and walking down the White House colonnade, while neither Mr. Trump nor White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made any public mention of Egypt’s spotty human rights record.
“The president recognizes…that’s best discussed privately,” Mr. Spicer said. “I’m not going to get into what they discussed privately. But I will tell you we understand the concern and I think those are the kinds of things that I think progress is made privately.”
.. “He has longed for a big hug from Washington as a sign of his broadening international legitimacy and he got that today,” said Eric Trager, an Egypt expert at The Washington Institute.
.. Experts and former officials say the human rights conditions have significantly deteriorated over the past several years.
.. “We are building up our military to a level that will be the highest, probably the highest that we’ve ever had.” Mr. Trump said.
.. Egypt is one of the largest recipients of U.S. military and foreign aid, getting about $1.5 billion a year. The Trump administration’s budget blueprint doesn’t guarantee aid to Egypt, and State Department officials have said aid to every country, except Israel, is under review.
.. Mr. Sisi won an election in 2014, several months after the military, then under his command, led a coup to oust Egypt’s first freely elected leader, President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.