US president Donald Trump has reinserted himself into the long-running tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the largest hydropower scheme in Africa.
In a letter sent on 16 January to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Trump offered the services of US mediators in resolving Cairo's bitter disagreement with Ethiopia over how to manage the waters of the River Nile.
Ethiopia's construction of the GERD, which was officially commissioned in September 2025, has upended Egypt's ancient dominance over the Nile. Now that the dam is complete, Ethiopia has the ability to control the flow of the Bile Nile, the branch of the river that accounts for around 85 of the water that passes into Egypt.
