Trump’s Horn of Africa envoy Massad Boulos rejected claims that Washington is building an anti-Ethiopian alliance after high-level meetings in Cairo with Egyptian, Eritrean and Somali officials, saying U.S. diplomacy aims to prevent conflict and strengthen regional security
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, has rejected claims that recent American diplomacy in the Horn of Africa is aimed at forging an “anti-Ethiopian alliance,” insisting Washington’s engagement across the region is intended to reduce tensions rather than create competing geopolitical blocs.
Boulos issued the clarification after a series of high-level meetings in Cairo involving senior officials from the United States, Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia fueled speculation that Washington was aligning itself with countries that have increasingly coordinated their positions on Red Sea security and Ethiopia’s maritime ambitions.
“Recent reports have mischaracterized U.S. diplomacy in the Horn of Africa as an attempt to court an ‘anti-Ethiopian alliance,'” Boulos wrote in a statement posted on X on July 29.
“The United States works with Ethiopia and all countries across the Horn of Africa and the wider Red Sea region to advance shared priorities,” he said.
“Engagement with one regional partner should not be distorted into hostility toward another. U.S. diplomacy is not about creating rival blocs or deepening divisions—it is about working constructively with all partners to prevent conflict and promote lasting peace and security.”
His remarks appear aimed at calming growing regional concerns that Washington could be shifting its strategic posture amid intensifying geopolitical competition across the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.
Cairo Meetings Draw Regional Attention
Boulos’s comments follow a series of diplomatic meetings held in Cairo on July 19, where Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty separately hosted Boulos, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, and Somali Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali.
Although officially described as bilateral engagements, Egyptian officials characterized the discussions as part of broader consultations focused on strengthening regional security cooperation, improving governance of the Red Sea, advancing peace initiatives and coordinating responses to emerging security challenges across the Horn of Africa.
Official statements released afterward by Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia emphasized the importance of protecting the security of the Red Sea and reaffirmed their long-held position that responsibility for the waterway should rest exclusively with countries bordering it.
That position has frequently been interpreted as opposing Ethiopia’s pursuit of sovereign maritime access following its January 2024 memorandum of understanding with Somaliland.
Relations among Cairo, Asmara and Mogadishu have deepened significantly since the Ethiopia-Somaliland agreement, with the three governments increasingly coordinating diplomatic and security positions on regional affairs.
Washington Highlights Broad Regional Engagement
The meetings also underscored Washington’s expanding diplomatic engagement across the Horn of Africa.
Following talks with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, Boulos described the discussions as “good and productive,” saying they covered bilateral relations, trade, regional economic development and security cooperation.
He said both sides discussed efforts “to address regional conflicts and advance lasting peace, stability, and prosperity in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.”
After meeting Abdelatty, Boulos described Egypt as “an essential partner in advancing peace, security, and prosperity across the Middle East and Africa.”
“We look forward to continuing close coordination with Egypt to address shared challenges,” he said.
Despite those meetings, Boulos stressed that Washington’s diplomacy should not be interpreted as favoring one regional bloc over another.
Analyst: Cairo Pursuing Long-Term Regional Strategy
Speaking on The Standard Signal podcast, former U.S. intelligence officer and Horn of Africa analyst Cameron Hudson said it would be premature to characterize the Cairo meetings as the emergence of a formal regional security alliance.
“I think it would be premature to call it a new regional security architecture,” Hudson said.
“Certainly from the Egyptian perspective that is the goal. The convening that happened on Sunday in Cairo is one step on the path towards achieving a more formalized regional security architecture among those countries.”
Hudson noted that the meetings remained a collection of bilateral engagements rather than a unified multilateral framework.
“To get to what you suggest would be a regional security architecture, it’s going to require a kind of coming together of all of these parties,” he said.
Egypt’s Growing Diplomatic Influence
Hudson also linked the Cairo meetings to Washington’s steadily expanding dialogue with Eritrea, noting that contacts between Boulos and Eritrean officials have continued since meetings held on the sidelines of last year’s United Nations General Assembly.
“The throughline in all of these interactions and conversations is the role of the Egyptians,” Hudson said.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these meetings are taking place in Cairo. Egypt clearly has a security interest in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. It has a strategy which it is acting on, and it is very clearly at this point trying to draw Washington into its strategy.”
Hudson argued that while Egypt appears to be shaping an emerging geopolitical alignment in the Horn of Africa, Washington has yet to articulate an independent strategy for the region.
“As I’ve argued previously, Washington needs to have its own strategy, not just be a player in Egypt’s strategy for the region,” he said.
“We are seeing a broad realignment in the Horn of Africa right now. I think it is largely being engineered out of Cairo.”
Ethiopia Remains Central to Regional Tensions
Although official summaries of the Cairo meetings did not explicitly reference Ethiopia or the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), both issues continue to dominate Egypt’s regional security agenda.
In recent months, President Trump has renewed offers to mediate the long-running dispute over the GERD while publicly echoing Egyptian concerns regarding Nile water security.
Those remarks have drawn criticism from Addis Ababa, which maintains that the dam was financed domestically and is being operated in accordance with international law.
Responding to recent Egyptian criticism, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa, dismissed Cairo’s accusations as “unfounded.”
He argued that Egypt would be better served by returning to negotiations under previously agreed diplomatic frameworks rather than continuing what he described as unrealistic allegations regarding the project.
Ethiopian officials have also accused Egypt of pursuing what they characterize as an “encirclement” strategy by strengthening military, diplomatic and maritime cooperation with Eritrea and Somalia.
Addis Ababa, however, has repeatedly maintained that its pursuit of maritime access will continue through peaceful negotiation and diplomatic engagement.
A Region Under Strategic Realignment
Boulos’s statement comes as the Horn of Africa is undergoing one of its most significant geopolitical realignments in decades.
Competition over Red Sea security, maritime trade routes, regional alliances and strategic infrastructure has intensified amid conflicts stretching from Sudan and Yemen to the Gulf of Aden.
While Washington insists its diplomacy seeks cooperation rather than confrontation, the growing frequency of high-level engagements among regional powers underscores the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa in an increasingly contested global security environment.
For now, the Trump administration appears intent on reassuring both allies and partners that expanding diplomatic engagement with Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia should not be interpreted as a shift away from cooperation with Ethiopia, but rather as part of a broader effort to promote regional stability across one of the world’s most strategically important corridors.
