U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to mediate the long-running dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the use of Nile River waters, an intervention that Cairo says it views positively amid renewed regional tensions over water security.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he welcomed the proposal in a statement posted on X, confirming that he had responded to a letter from Trump by restating Egypt’s concerns about the impact of Ethiopia’s upstream projects on its vital water supply. Egypt relies on the Nile for more than 90% of its freshwater needs and has consistently warned that any unilateral actions affecting the river threaten its national security.
The dispute centres on Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, which Addis Ababa says is essential for its development and energy ambitions. Egypt, supported at various points by Sudan, has argued that the dam’s filling and operation must be governed by a binding agreement to prevent significant harm to downstream countries.
Negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have dragged on for more than a decade, involving mediation attempts by the African Union, the United States and the World Bank, with little lasting progress. Talks have repeatedly stalled over disagreements on data sharing, drought mitigation and dispute-resolution mechanisms.
Trump’s renewed offer of U.S. mediation comes at a time when Egypt has intensified diplomatic efforts to internationalise the issue, while Ethiopia maintains that the dam is a sovereign development project and that it has already completed filling phases without causing major damage downstream.
While details of Washington’s proposed role remain unclear, analysts say any successful mediation would require rebuilding trust between the parties and aligning with African Union-led processes, which Ethiopia has long insisted should remain the primary framework for negotiations.
