Egypt, a close ally of the US which depends on the Nile for 97 percent of its water, considers the dam an "existential threat". In Davos last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump backed that claim, saying the dam "was financed by the United States and it basically blocks the Nile". "We did not receive a single birr (the Ethiopian currency) in loans or financial aid from any foreign sources for the construction of the mega-dam. Salini also said the project was entirely financed by Ethiopia. Trump, a longtime ally of his Egyptian counterpart, pledged to "get negotiations back on track" between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
