In Major Shift, Trump Taking Egypt’s Human Rights Issues Private<br />Sarah Margon said that A blank check from President Trump on human rights concerns in Egypt isn’t surprising<br />but it does mean Congress will have to step in and continue using its authorities to limit U.S. support given how serious the scale of repression and abuse is under President Sisi,<br />The decision to sideline human rights issues in Egypt publicly comes just days after the Trump administration told Congress<br />that it would lift human rights conditions imposed by President Barack Obama’s administration and resume arms sales to Bahrain, another critical ally in the Middle East and host country of the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet.<br />As President Trump prepares to host President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt on Monday for his first visit to the White House since<br />seizing power in Cairo in a military takeover in 2013, aides said the two leaders would focus on security and economic matters.<br />Tom Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in charge of human rights issues under Mr. Obama,<br />said American aid to Egypt had never translated into the expected support for American policy.<br />By PETER BAKERMARCH 31, 2017<br />WASHINGTON — The White House signaled on Friday that it would no longer allow human rights issues to become a public point<br />of conflict with Egypt, another striking shift away from years of American foreign policy by presidents of both parties.<br />In December, Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina<br />and John McCain of Arizona, both Republicans, said they would support new restrictions on aid to Egypt if a proposed new law there restricting aid groups is approved — a measure of the possible limits of Mr. Trump’s embrace of Mr. Sisi.<br />At a briefing on Friday, White House officials said Mr. Trump did not consider it constructive to air disputes over human rights publicly.
