As a candidate, Joe Biden pledged “no more blank checks for ‘Trump’s favorite dictator,’” a pointed reference to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is the recipient of roughly $1.3 billion in US military assistance per year. But whether Biden can make good on that promise as president remains to be seen, and in the meantime, a leery Egypt is testing the waters.
Sisi “understands that it’s going to be a different ballgame than it was under Trump,” said William D. Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.