WH throws support behind El-Sisi in first official meeting

US President Donald Trump’s affinity for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was on full display on Monday as he welcomed him to the White House promising “long friendship” with Cairo’s strongman, without, however, introducing any new deliverables to the relationship.
“We are rejuvenating our military to the highest level… That’s what we need,” Trump said from the Oval Office ahead of a two-hour meeting and luncheon with the Egyptian president and former commander in chief of its army. Experts highlighted the rosy optics of the visit, but cautioned against anticipating tangible changes in the security and strategic pillars of the US-Egypt relationship.
In his first visit to the White House since assuming office in 2014, El-Sisi was eying political backing and “charting a new course” for the relationship after three years of a tense rapport between him and former US President Barack Obama, said Eric Trager, a fellow and expert on Egypt at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Trager told Arab News that “Egypt is looking for that big hug, for a new course” with Washington. Trump’s warm embrace of El-Sisi, preceded by a Marines Corps march on the White House grounds and a luncheon in the State Dining Room was meant to portray the glowing friendliness for this visit.
“You have a great friend and ally in the United States and in me,” Trump told El-Sisi who shot back showing “a deep appreciation and admiration of your (Trump’s) unique personality.” El-Sisi also complimented Trump’s counter-terror strategy and his “standing very strong to counter this evil ideology.”
Beyond the bloomy and changed atmospherics of the US-Egyptian presidential relations from the Obama days, there was no concrete announcements of changes or new deliverables to Cairo from Washington.
Instead, emphasis on counterterrorism and an enduring friendship were the main theme of the visit. Trump stressed that the two sides “will fight terrorism and other things” and that “we’re going to be friends for a long long period of time. We have a great bond with the people of Egypt.”
Strategically, Trager saw in Trump’s approach “a realization and correction from the Obama days where focusing on reforms did not produce reforms” while “withholding aid from Egypt (2013-2015) has sent Cairo to Russia and France.” The Trump-El-Sisi meeting did not mention issues of democracy and human rights, something that US officials said is better to be discussed “in a private, more discreet way.”
These realities, according to Trager, prompted the Trump administration to “focus on the shared strategic interest with Egypt as the only formula that can work right now.” This approach brings emphasis on counterterrorism.
Trager expected El-Sisi to ask for more military and economic aid from the US, now averaging an annual military support of $1.3 billion. However, the expert contended that “it will be difficult for Trump to meet any increase,” hence maintaining the status quo rather than “overseeing a substantial deepening of ties.”
On the question of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization, something that the Egyptian president would highly welcome, multiple US sources told Arab News that the Trump team is getting cold feet on the issue and instead could opt for targeting local chapters or individuals of the group.

Source: Arab News