Trump says US ‘working on’ resolving Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute

After United States President Donald Trump said that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute is “a big problem” that the US is “working on” resolving, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed appreciation for what he described as Trump’s keenness to reach a “fair agreement” between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the matter.

“If I am Egypt, I want to have water in the Nile,” Trump said during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday, adding that the Nile is a “very important source of income and life” for Egypt.

In response, Sisi praised what he called Trump’s “recognition” of the river’s vital importance for Egyptians in his statement on Tuesday.

Egypt has voiced existential concerns over its water security in its decade-long dispute with Ethiopia, arguing that the dam imposes a fait accompli on downstream countries that will either compromise their access to water or force their hand in agreements about resource-sharing.

The US stepped in as a mediator to three-way negotiations which were ultimately unresolved between the countries involved in 2019, later stepping back to an observing role in another stalled round of talks between the Nile states led by the African Union.

During Monday’s presser, Trump reiterated his previous claims that the GERD is funded by the US. “I think the US funded the dam,” he said, adding, “I do not know why they didn't solve the problem before they built the dam. But it is nice when the Nile River has water.”

He also referred to “keeping peace between Egypt and Ethiopia” in the GERD dispute in a post from June on social media, claiming that he will resolve the dispute along with a series of other international diplomatic impasses for which he deserves a Nobel Prize, and, similar to what he said on Monday, that the US financed the GERD project, though “stupidly.”

Trump noted Egypt’s concerns at the time, saying that it “substantially reduces the water flowing into the Nile River.”

In response, the director general of GERD’s Public Participation Coordination Office, Aregawi Berhe, denied Trump’s claims and stressed that the project was built by the “Ethiopian people.”

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly announced in the weekly cabinet presser last week Ethiopia’s intention to resume GERD negotiations, after a years-long lapse in the talks that collapsed in December 2023.

Egypt asked Ethiopia to “sign a document” that would turn the intention into a written commitment, he added.

Egypt has repeatedly voiced its concerns over its access to vital water resources amid the dam’s establishment in successive rounds of talks since 2013.

The US mediated an earlier round of talks after Egypt called for international mediation toward a deal. Delegations from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan met three times in Washington DC in 2020.

An Egyptian government source speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity at the time said that there are three terms on which Egypt would not “under any circumstances” compromise: an agreed minimum amount of water Ethiopia would have to release annually, legally-binding measures for mitigation and dispute resolution and a final document that does not imply any permanent concession from Egypt on its water rights. A consultant to the negotiations said that Ethiopia was also insisting on a water share — a term to which they said Egypt would never agree.

Though America’s role in any future talks is unclear, Trump’s comments come months ahead of Addis Ababa's inauguration of the mega-dam project, scheduled for September.

The country completed the fourth and final filling phase of the dam in 2023 in a move that Cairo said was “unilateral” action that disregards the interests of downstream countries Sudan and Egypt.