3rd Egypt-U.S. summit takes place in Riyadh

CAIRO – 21 May 2017: President Abdel Fattah aEl-Sisi on Sunday morning met with President Donald Trump in Riyadh.

The two leaders meeting took place ahead of two multilateral summits in Saudi Arabia, namely the Arab Islamic American Summit and the Gulf Cooperation Council and U.S. Summit.



During the meeting, the U.S. President said he would visit Egypt, "I will get to Egypt. We will absolutely be putting that on the list very soon."

Trump delivered words of appreciation to Sisi for his help with the release of Egyptian-American Aya Hijazi in April.

For his part, President Sisi said the U.S. President has “a unique personality that is on his first foreign visit since taking office.”.



In April, Trump and Sisi met in Washington to address a number of regional issues, topics of mutual concern and fighting terrorism. Trump vowed to provide Egypt with the necessary support in its battle against terrorism.
President Sisi arrived in the Saudi capital on Saturday for a two-day visit that was scheduled to include high-level talks on regional and international issues.
Trump’s visit to the Saudi kingdom is as marked his first foreign visit, he embarked on a tour of the Middle East and Europe last week. It is also announced that he will also visit Israel and the Vatican.



Speaking through a translator, Sisi described Trump as "a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible."
"We've really been through a lot together positively," said Trump
The invitation to the summits comes after a recent meeting between Sisi and Salman in late April in the Saudi capital. The two Arab leaders said they seek to enhance cooperation to face challenges and restore security and stability in the region.
Sisi went to Washington in April for talks with Trump in the White House. The meeting intended to improve relations between the two countries.

“Since we met last September I have had a deep appreciation and admiration of your unique personality, especially since you are standing so strong against terrorism,” said Sisi during the meeting in the White House.

"We’re having great discussions with representatives of Egypt and with the president,” said Trump. “We have many things in common. We have a few things that we don’t agree on. This is going to be a very productive day and it’s a great honor."



During the visit, which comes per an invitation from Trump, both leaders talked about counter-terrorism efforts and ongoing conflicts of the Middle East.
The two presidents seem to grow fond of each other; Sisi was among the first leaders to call Trump to congratulate him on winning the election.

During a Fox Business interview on September 22, 2016, President Trump was talking about Sisi when he said, “He’s a fantastic guy, he took control of Egypt, he really took control of it.”

Sisi and Trump first encountered during the latter’s campaign trail. The two leaders both emerged from their New York encounter with warm words to say about each other.
The brief encounter took place last September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.