“The…only reason for President Sisi to visit the White House right now is to obtain a strong endorsement from President Trump…He has calculated that he can intimidate his opponents and potential opponents with a show of support from Trump.”

“The fact that the trip is happening right now is directly tied to Sisi’s desire for the US and Trump’s endorsement for [his] attempt to change the constitution to allow him to stay in power and bolster his power in other ways.”

“If [Egyptian defense officials] are sanctioned, they’re the same people who in theory are doing business with the United States and with US firms, and that can create some problems in terms of foreign military assistance.”

“Sisi is not Kim Jong Un or Saddam Hussein. But he’s inching Egypt toward that kind of regime.”

“The way they’ve used [military aid] raises questions about whether they can use it responsibly and consistent with US law.”

“His case shows the willingness of President Sisi’s regime to ignore legitimate concerns expressed by the Trump White House for an American citizen wrongly imprisoned in awful conditions and in dangerously poor health.”

“If an Egyptian has Canadian citizenship, they will treat [them] as an Egyptian, and they normally don’t even notify the other foreign government that one of their citizens has been detained.”

“Today’s compromise is deeply disappointing. t is a missed opportunity for them to send a strong message to the Egyptians.”

“El-Sisi has built a military dictatorship in which civilian institutions have been subordinated to the military and intelligence agencies in which freedom of speech and expression has been completely stifled.”

“It’s a curious way to describe Egypt to call it stable. Since Sisi took office, living standards have declined, the country’s crumbling, the insurgency problem in the Sinai has only gotten worse.”