Ryan Sammis
The US President expressed anger about Ethiopia's huge dam on the Nile and suggested that Egypt could destroy this project.
"It is a very dangerous situation because Egypt will not be able to live that way," President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on October 23 during a ceremony marking the agreement to normalize bearing relations.
Water flows through the Dai Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia during construction on the Nile River in September 2019 Photo: Reuters
"They are going to blow up the dam. I have talked about this and I have made it clear that they are going to blow it up. They have to do something," Trump added, referring to Ethiopia's Great Renaissance Dam.
Ethiopia said the $ 4 billion project was indispensable to the country's development and electrification needs, and expressed hope that the work would start operations in early 2021. Egypt, a dependent country
The Sudanese government also believes that the dam could threaten the safety of about 20 million Sudanese living downstream and destroy Sudan's flood-based agriculture, if not built and operated.
"They should have stopped it long before they started," Trump added, expressing regret that Egypt fell into chaos when the project started in 2011.
Trump, a close ally of the general who has just become Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has agreed to act as a mediator to negotiate the dam on Cairo's request, with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin leading
The US State Department said in September it had partially suspended financial aid to Ethiopia, citing lack of progress in negotiations and that Ethiopia "unilaterally decided" to begin putting water in the dam's reservoir.
"I had an agreement for them and then unfortunately Ethiopia broke it, something they shouldn't have done. It was a big mistake," Trump said.
The office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed today released a statement saying that Ethiopia is working to resolve outstanding issues with Sudan and Egypt.
"However, from time to time, the warlike threats to force Ethiopia to submit to unfair terms are still plentiful. Ethiopia will not flinch in any form of aggression," the statement said.
