Warm welcome awaits Sisi as Trump rolls out red carpet for Egypt strongman
The Egyptian president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, is set to visit the White House on Monday, in a clear sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to firmly embrace dictatorial regimes that the previous administration spurned.
Sisi is the first Egyptian leader to visit the White House since Egypt’s 2011 revolution, as well as the 2013 popularly backed military coup that brought him to power. Unlike Obama, who refrained from inviting Sisi to Washington, Trump has had a warm relationship since meeting Sisi on the sidelines at the UN general assembly in September 2016.
“He wants to use President Sisi’s visit to reboot the bilateral relationship and build on the strong connection the two presidents established when they first met,” a senior White House official told reporters on Friday.Like Trump, Sisi has been criticised for his attacks on the media, as well as demanding compliant and uncritical state institutions.