Trump has “true understanding” of Middle East, says Sisi

CAIRO – 6 April 2017: U.S. President Donald Trump has a “true understanding” of the Middle East, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi told FOX News Monday, comparing Trump’s administration to that of former President Barack Obama.


In an exclusive interview with

FOX News

, President Sisi praised the current American administration, saying, "there is seriousness and responsible actions in facing extremism and terrorism in the region. And that's a wonderful thing indeed.”


The Egyptian leader visited Washington last week to meet with Trump, with a bilateral agenda full of issues of common concern.


Obama did not invite President Sisi to the White House and relations between the two countries were uneasy after Sisi’s election in 2014 on the back of the dispersal of pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda squares on August 14, 2013.


The Obama administration also suspended U.S. military assistance to Egypt, a total of $1.3 billion annually, in 2013. The suspension was lifted in 2014 with the delivery of 10 helicopters.


Trump "promised to support Egypt ... and I trust his promise,” Sisi said.


Discussing the Syrian crisis, Sisi told FOX that “Russia has interests in Syria and the region,” adding, “and I think they are defending their interests.”


Sisi also underscored that the world needs to “speak with one face as we confront terrorism.”


“[I] have four years, and if the people accept me, maybe four more, and there’s no third chance," he told FOX. "There is true change in Egypt and the Egyptian people will not accept to have a president against their will," Sisi concluded.