Egypt: businessman sends harsh message to Trump after remarks about Suez Canal

An Egyptian businessman has told a local television channel that Donald Trump clearly hasn’t studied history or geography, after the US president said that American warships and commercial vessels should pass through the Suez Canal without paying any fees as part of America’s “strategic cooperation” with Egypt. According to Trump, neither the Panama nor Suez Canal owe their existence to the US.

“The Suez Canal was built with the sweat and sacrifices of Egyptians and has a profound meaning for us,” said Naguib Sawiris. “We won’t allow anyone to declare that his country’s ships will be allowed to pass through it for free.” There is order [in the world], added Sawiris. “If we allow American ships to pass through for free, everyone will ask to pass through for free. His words don’t sit well with us as Egyptians.”

The businessman stressed that, in light of the current circumstances facing Egypt, everyone must band together and “we must become closer and unite.” He considered this as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the ruler and the ruled.

Sawiris then explained that Egypt faces a major threat posed by the plan to displace 1.5 million Palestinians as well Trump’s statement about the Suez Canal. “Why should we, as Egypt, pay the price for the Israeli occupation and the injustice inflicted on the Palestinians?”

He stressed that the Gaza Strip can be rebuilt after the Israeli war on the Strip stops, without the deportation or displacement of Palestinians. He praised the plan presented by the Egyptian state for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza.

Finally, Sawiris called on the US to support the Egyptian plan for Gaza reconstruction, and for the Hamas leadership to consider the interests of its people, who are being annihilated, and prioritise the interests of the Palestinian people.

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