The damned dam: No, Trump Did Not Stop a War Between Egypt and Ethiopia

Egypt issued a new statement last week warning that Ethiopia’s latest unilateral and unregulated operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has caused sharp fluctuations in water flows along the Blue Nile.

This unexpected surge has forced the Egyptian government to open the Toshka spillway to safely absorb the excess water.

This is the second—or perhaps even the third—such warning Egypt has issued within a span of three months. Honestly, I’ve lost count.

Now, I am seizing this moment to clarify a recurring claim: Donald Trump did not stop a war between Egypt and Ethiopia.

There was no war between Egypt and Ethiopia to begin with.

I will acknowledge that real progress was indeed achieved during Trump’s first term. In February 2020, the parties were genuinely on the verge of signing an agreement before Ethiopia backed away at the last moment.
Still, there was no war, nor any military confrontation, for Trump to “stop” in his previous or current term.

The only time Egypt and Ethiopia were actually at war was in the 19th century, when Khedive Ismail attempted to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Mohamed Ali Pasha, in Sudan.

Parliament 2025 elections: A quick guide

Here is a quick fact box about the first stage parliamentary elections in Egypt that will kick off on Monday.

Domestic voting will take place in two phases, on 10–11 and 24–25 November 2025, to determine the composition of the 596-seat chamber, divided almost evenly between 284 individual seats and 284 filled through the absolute closed party-list system, with an additional 28 members appointed by presidential decree.

10,893 polling stations will be set up — 5,606 for the first phase and 5,287 for the second — under the supervision of 9,600 judges from the Administrative and State Councils.

The first phase will cover 14 governorates — Giza, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matrouh — with 284 seats contested.

The remaining governorates will take part in the second phase on 24-25 November in 13 governorates —Cairo, Qalyubia, Dakahlia, Monufia, Sharqia, Gharbia, Kafr el-Sheikh, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai.

Four coalition lists — the Popular List, Your Voice for Egypt List, Call of Egypt List, and Generation List — were disqualified for failing to meet the legal and procedural requirements set by the National Election Authority (NEA).

As a result, the National Unified List for Egypt was the only coalition list approved to contest all four designated electoral constituencies.

This means that 284 seats have been filled via the absolute closed party list systems already, without elections technically.

This means that 284 seats have already been filled through the absolutely closed party-list system — effectively without real elections. The system has faced heavy criticism for this reason. Supporters, mostly pro-regime voices, argue that it helps ensure representation for minorities such as women and Christian Egyptians.

In reality, however, it does not.

This marks the second consecutive parliamentary election in which the coalition list has been approved.

The only difference is that the National Front Party has joined the coalition led by the Nation’s Future Party.

Egypt is divided into four party-list constituencies comprising 284 seats: Cairo and the Central and Southern Delta (102 seats); North, Central, and South Upper Egypt (102 seats); Eastern Delta (40 seats); and Western Delta (40 seats).

That time when Eric Adams met Egypt’s Mr. 1

I won’t speak about the glamorous Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) inauguration in this post — that event deserves a quieter, clearer moment, away from all the noise.

Instead, I want to talk about something else that caught the attention of many Egyptians last Saturday, right after the GEM’s glamorous opening ceremony.

That “something” was none other than a campaign ad by New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, targeting Arab American voters with a video in which he spoke Arabic.

أنا اسمي زهران ممدان وعم رشّح حالي لأكون العمدة الجديد في مدينة نيويورك pic.twitter.com/ptfVdpansX

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 1, 2025

Speaking in a mix of Levantine and Egyptian accents, Mamdani visited a bodega — most likely Yemeni-owned, as many are — and greeted the resident cat with the Egyptian phrase “Ezayak ya basha” (How are you, Pasha?).

He also stopped by a Palestinian falafel shop, which, unsurprisingly, infuriated several pro-Israeli Zionists online.

But aside from that “Ezayak ya basha” moment, there was another scene that meant a lot to many of us — a subtle reminder of Egypt’s enduring soft power. In the background, one could hear a familiar tune: Mona Abdel Ghany’s 1987 hit “Yalla Ya As-hab” (Come Along, Friends).

Even though Mamdani studied Arabic in Egypt and his wife is Syrian American, I doubt either of them recognized that song. Clearly, someone on his campaign team is Egyptian — and has excellent taste in nostalgic 1980s pop.

But this wasn’t the only unexpected Egyptian pop culture cameo in New York City’s most heated mayoral race of the 21st century.

Just last month, we witnessed what could only be described as a meeting of the titans: Egypt’s Mohamed Ramadan meeting with former New York Mayor Eric Adams. (Yes, as you probably guessed from this post’s title.)