Over the weekend, it was reported that the Trump administration had ordered the halting of all foreign aid except to Israel and Egypt.
Sources who spoke to the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat tried to explain Trump's avoidance of harming aid to Cairo.
They explained that this stems primarily from the importance attributed in Washington to Egypt's current role in attempts to calm the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli arena and bring solutions to this conflict.
Another explanation given is that the Trump administration understands well Egypt's current economic distress, partly due to the Houthi attacks that have damaged revenues from the Suez Canal, and therefore the Americans are not interested in further burdening President al-Sisi's internal situation because they need him "free" for the Gaza issue.