Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 1 February 2018

Trump once again threatening aid cuts

The Donald is again threatening aid cuts to those unsupportive of his Jerusalem move: In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, US President Donald Trump once again used the threat of cutting US to countries that do not back US foreign policies, USA Today notes. Trump said he will ask Congress to pass a law that would only give foreign aid to nations that “serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends.” His previous threat of aid cuts came ahead of a UN General Assembly vote following an Egypt-drafted resolution in the Security Council condemning Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The Arab League plans to hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the situation. Foreign ministers of members will meet to discuss the next course of action regional countries will take to reaffirm their objection to the Jerusalem decision, diplomatic sources tell Al Ahram.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had been discussing the very same issue at an emergency meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, an international policy coordination body for development assistance to the Palestinian people, according to an official ministry statement. The meeting, which came in response to the Trump administration announcing it would cut development aid to the Palestinians, also saw EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warn the US that attempts to push the peace process as a sole broker would end in failure, reports the NYT. The EU announced new funding packages for Palestine from the meeting of USD 53 mn.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.