Trump loves to praise Egypt’s dictator — but just cut off millions in aid to his government

Zeeshan Aleem · Friday, August 25, 2017, 9:45 am

Experts have some theories on why the president is pivoting.

When President Trump met in April with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi — a brutal military dictator who overthrew his country’s democratically elected president in a 2013 coup, killed more than 800 protesters in a single day, and has imprisoned tens of thousands of dissidents since he took power — he heartily endorsed the man.

“I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President el-Sisi,” Trump said. “He’s done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation.”

Which is why the Trump administration’s decision this week to cancel a $96 million aid package to Egypt and delay a different $195 million package, citing concerns about “democracy” and “human rights,” seemed a bit, well, out of character.

So what gives? Has the Trump administration suddenly had a change of heart? Or is there something else going on here?

It’s hard to know, as all we have to go on is the administration’s vague rhetoric about human rights problems in Egypt, which doesn’t seem to accord with Trump’s earlier celebration of Sisi’s authoritarianism. “It’s about human rights. Human rights is, obviously, a very big — it’s a part of what we do here each and every day, promoting human rights,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

But the prevailing theory among numerous experts I spoke to is that the White House thinks Sisi is going too far with his repression and is trying to be creative in its efforts to stop him. In addition to that, it could even be using it as an opportunity to pressure Egypt to cut its longstanding ties with North Korea.

Read more
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/25/16196768/trump-sisi-egypt-aid-tillerson