Donald Trump says America paid for Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. That’s a lie. But it’s not just any lie, it’s a window into the mind of a man who once tried to “blow up the dam” and holds power in the US until 2028.
Last week, Trump went on another of his signature tirades. Speaking about the $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, he claimed it was “built with United States money, largely.” Ethiopians were stunned. Officials called it “false” and “destructive.”
But behind the lie is a deeper truth.
Trump never liked GERD. He never liked Ethiopia. And he really never liked Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
A Nobel Prize that drove Trump mad
Back in 2019, while Trump was still in office, Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace with Eritrea. That triggered something in Trump—who publicly fumed that he deserved the prize instead. He even complained during a rally: “I made a deal, I saved a country… where’s my Nobel Prize?”
He was talking about Sudan. But he was thinking about Ethiopia.
In private and public, Trump’s resentment toward Abiy became palpable. That same year, he threw U.S. diplomatic weight behind Egypt’s efforts to stop GERD, even threatening to destroy it. “They’ll end up blowing up that dam,” he said in 2020. “And I said it and I say it loud and clear.”
That wasn’t policy. That was a tantrum.
Now, Trump is rewriting history—and Ethiopia should be worried
This month, Trump doubled down. On his Truth Social platform, he claimed GERD was “stupidly financed by the United States.” He didn’t cite any facts. He didn’t mention that Ethiopians, not Americans, paid for the dam through public bond drives, salary deductions, and diaspora contributions.
He just wanted the spotlight. And a punch to Ethiopia’s pride.
Fikrte Tamir, deputy director of the GERD Coordination Office, fired back, saying Ethiopia built the dam “without any foreign aid.” But that wasn’t enough to quiet Trump or his allies.
Why? Because the goal isn’t truth. The goal is control. And for Trump, Ethiopia’s rise is an insult.
Trump loves a strongman—and Egypt has one
Throughout his first term, Trump fawned over Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. At one meeting, he was heard calling Sisi “my favorite dictator.” Egypt has long opposed GERD, fearing it could reduce Nile water flowing into its territory.
Trump took Egypt’s side every time.
Ethiopia faces a dangerous diplomatic fork. The man who once tried to sabotage its most important infrastructure project is back, and he’s already rewriting the story to justify future action.
What’s at stake?
GERD isn’t just a dam. It’s electricity for more than 60% of Ethiopians who live without power. It’s independence from colonial-era Nile treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan unfair control. It’s a symbol of sovereignty.
Trump’s claims aren’t just wrong. They’re part of a pattern: undermine Abiy, embolden Sisi, and drag the U.S. back into a biased, anti-Ethiopia posture.
No, Trump didn’t fund GERD. Ethiopians did
The facts are crystal clear. The dam, over a mile long and 145 meters high, was financed entirely by Ethiopia. Bonds were sold to citizens. Workers donated parts of their salaries. The diaspora gave generously. In just the last year, 1.7 billion birr ($12.3 million) was raised by the public.
This is national pride, not U.S. aid.
And yet, Trump’s lie is gaining traction—because no one in Washington is correcting him. Not the State Department. Not the White House. And certainly not Egypt.
Why East Africa must pay attention now
Trump is back in power. Elected again in 2024, he’s wasting no time reviving old grudges. Ethiopia should expect more than rhetoric. Expect pressure. Expect economic coercion. Expect a White House that listens to Cairo, not Addis Ababa.
He already backed Egypt once. He threatened Ethiopia’s dam. Now he’s pretending the U.S. paid for it. What will he try next? A demand for influence over African water policy?
Trump already showed he’d support military action to sabotage GERD. Now he’s pretending America paid for it. What will he claim next? That the U.S. deserves ownership of Ethiopian water?
Ethiopia, it may face another wave of foreign meddling—dressed up as diplomacy, but powered by personal vendetta.
A warning from the dam
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is more than concrete and turbines. It’s a monument to national resilience—built by Ethiopians, for Ethiopians, without begging for Western handouts. Every drop of water behind that wall tells a story of sacrifice, self-reliance, and stubborn pride.
Trump can’t stand that.
He sees in Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize he never got. He sees in GERD the kind of legacy he craves—monumental, patriotic, historic. And he hates it wasn’t his.
Now he’s trying to rewrite history, claim the credit, and lay the groundwork to sabotage it all again. Not for diplomacy. Not for strategy. But for revenge.
Trump’s ego isn’t just dangerous—it’s policy.
And it’s pointing straight at Ethiopia.