‘We’ll get it settled’: Trump affirms US mediation to resolve Egypt-Ethiopia dam dispute

DAVOS – 22 January 2027: President Donald Trump said the US is working to get the longstanding dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia on the Grad Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) settled, a day after his meeting with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Davos, Switzerland.

“We’re working on a dam that was built, which precludes the Nile River from getting water,” Trump said as he launched the Board of Peace, a global organization that he heads and that features world leaders as members, aimed at resolving conflicts.

 

“Egypt and Ethiopia, we’re working on that right now,” Trump said. “I met yesterday with a very good general and a very good leader of Egypt.”

Trump asserted that he had the GERD dispute “just about settled” in his first term before he lost to “a rigged election” in 2020.

“But here I am back. We’ll get it settled,” Trump said, highlighting the threat that the dam poses to Nile Water inflows to Egypt.

“This is a pretty tough situation. A dam was built and the water doesn’t come down to the Nile.”

“When I think of Egypt, I think of the Nile, but I think of the Nile with water in it.”

GERD Dispute

Egypt has repeatedly rejected Ethiopia’s unilateral actions and uncoordinated approach to the filling and operation of the mega dam, which has a storage capacity of up to 74 billion cubic meters of water.

Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 98% of its renewable water resources, has cited concerns over future water supplies especially in the periods of drought and flood.

The River Nile’s downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, have called on Ethiopia to sign a binding legal agreement governing the operation and filling of the dam to secure their water interests, a demand that Addis Ababa has rejected despite more than a decade of talks.

In October, Egypt accused Ethiopia of creating a “man-made flood” that put the lives and resources of populations in the two downstream countries at risk, citing “hasty and uncoordinated filling” of the recently inaugurated dam.

Restarted US Mediation

On Friday, Trump said that he is willing to restart US mediation between Egypt and Ethiopia to resolve the dam dispute in a letter addressed to President El-Sisi.

In the letter, Trump said he understands the “deep significance of the Nile River to Egypt and its people, and I want to help you achieve an outcome that assures the water needs” of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

“The United States affirms that no state in this region should unilaterally control the precious resources of the Nile, and disadvantage its neighbors in the process.”

Meeting with El-Sisi on Wednesday, Trump said he would like to bring together the leaders of both Egypt and Ethiopia to advance a solution to the GERD dispute.