Trump says progress possible on Egypt, Ethiopia dam talks

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes progress is possible between Egypt and Ethiopia as he resumes efforts to resolve their long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Trump said the dam "basically blocks the Nile River," suggesting that he will "see if I can get" negotiations "back on track."

"It's a dangerous thing. They built a dam where somebody is not getting the water that they are supposed to get and that they've gotten for a million years, and all of a sudden the water flow is blocked by a very massive dam," Trump said, as he hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"I think we'll be able to get to something about the dam. The dam is a big problem. We'll be able to do something," he added.

Dam inauguration

Last week, Trump offered to mediate between Cairo and Addis Ababa, with Sisi welcoming the outreach.

The Nile River, which runs for 6,650 kilometres, is shared by 11 countries: Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt.

The Ethiopian government inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile on September 9, 2025, after 14 years of construction, a project that has long been disputed by downstream nations Egypt and Sudan over its filling and operation.

Egypt and Sudan have long called on Ethiopia to reach a legally binding tripartite agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.