The United States President Donald Trump was all praises for the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi when he welcomed him to the White House on Tuesday. He described his Egyptian counterpart Al-Sisi as a great president.
“We’ve never had a better relationship, Egypt and the United States, than we do right now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, reported Reuters.
He noted that the two will discuss military and trade during the meeting and added that the two countries have made progress on combating terrorism.
When asked to comment on Sisi’s efforts to stay in power until 2034, Trump tried to evade the question by saying, “I think he’s doing a great job, I don’t know about the effort, I can just tell you he’s doing a great job.”
Trump called Sisi a great person. He said the relationship between the two nations was at an all-time high.
Sisi, who came to power in a military coup that overthrew Egypt’s first democratically-elected president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 following mass protests against his rule, is now backed by a constitutional reform which paved the way for him to stay in power until at least 2034.
The Egyptian President has arrived on a three-day visit to the US at a time when he is facing international criticism over his poor human rights record. Human rights groups have accused Sisi’s government of torturing political prisoners, silencing dissidents and using death sentences to settle scores. The government has denied the allegations.
In a letter released on Monday, key senators told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that strong relationship was vital for both the US and Egypt but expressed concerns about democratic governance, political freedom, economic reforms and fundamental human rights in the country.
“A strong and sustainable US-Egypt strategic partnership is vital for both countries but it requires Egypt to make a tangible effort to make those reforms,” the letter signed by the Republican chairman, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and 15 other senators read.
