Trump -- who in his first term sent tensions spiraling by suggesting that Egypt may bomb the project -- offered his services as he hailed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an ally who helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
"I am ready to restart US mediation between Egypt and Ethiopia to responsibly resolve the question of 'The Nile Water Sharing' once and for all," Trump said a letter to Sisi posted on social media by the White House.
"The United States affirms that no state in this region should unilaterally control the precious resources of the Nile, and disadvantage its neighbors in the process," Trump said.
He promised that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) would be "at the very top of my agenda."
He said he hoped for a formula to provide a predictable water supply for Egypt and Sudan and let Ethiopia either sell or give electricity to the two downstream countries.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in September inaugurated the GERD, Africa's largest hydropower project built at a cost of $4 billion, which will more than double Ethiopia's current electricity capacity.
Sisi has called the dam an existential threat, with parched Egypt counting on the Nile for 97 percent of its water needs.
Mediation efforts by the United States, World Bank, Russia, United Arab Emirates and the African Union have all faltered over the past decade in resolving the disputes over the dam, a unifying symbol of pride in Ethiopia.
Trump, speaking near the end of his first term, had also said he hoped for a resolution and said Egypt's response if not, "They'll blow up that dam."
The remarks stunned both Egypt and Ethiopia, which summoned the US ambassador for clarification and vowed to resist any attack.
Trump has a warm relationship with Sisi, a former general who took power in a 2013 coup and has since severely repressed the opposition.
Trump was once quoted as calling Sisi "my favorite dictator."
Egypt president thanks Trump for offer to mediate on Ethiopia dam
Cairo (AFP) Jan 17, 2026 -
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi thanked his US counterpart Donald Trump on Saturday for offering to serve as a mediator with Ethiopia over sharing water from a Nile mega-dam at the centre of more than a decade of tensions.
Trump had said on Friday that he was "ready to restart US mediation" to resolve the question of water sharing along the Nile, upon which Egypt relies for 97 percent of its water needs.
Sisi said he welcomed "Trump's attention to the central importance of the Nile River issue for Egypt, as it represents the lifeline of the Egyptian people" in a post on X.
He added that he had a desire to cooperate with other countries along the river "without harming any party".
Inaugurated in September, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is the largest in Africa, at 1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles) long and 145 metres (475 feet) tall.
It is expected to double electricity production in Ethiopia -- the continent's second most populous country, where nearly half of the people lack power -- but Egypt fears it will throttle water supplies downstream.
The GERD is situated on western Ethiopia's Blue Nile, which later joins the White Nile in Sudan to form the Nile River, which flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean.
Sudan's army chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also welcomed Trump's mediation in the hope of "finding lasting and satisfying solutions that preserve the rights of all", he said on X Saturday.
Various efforts at mediation between the three countries over the last decade -- led at different times by the US, the World Bank, Russia and the United Arab Emirates -- have consistently failed.
Trump said in a letter to Sisi released by the White House on Friday that he hoped for a formula that would provide a predictable water supply for Egypt and Sudan, and let Ethiopia either sell or give electricity to the two downstream countries.
Sisi has called the dam an existential threat, while Ethiopia sees it as a national project of historic scale and a rare unifying symbol.
Trump had stunned both Egypt and Ethiopia near the end of his first term when he expressed hope for a resolution to the GERD question, saying that if not, Egypt would "blow up that dam".
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