Mekelle፡Telaviv, Nairobi, Pretoria, London, (Tigray Herald).
Ethiopia Rebukes Trump Over False Claim of U.S. Funding for GERD
By Staff Writer
Ethiopia’s GERD Coordination Office has issued a sharp rebuttal to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, who once again claimed that the United States financed the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.
Speaking for the third time this month on the topic, Trump alleged that Ethiopia built the dam “largely with U.S. money,” and accused the Horn of Africa nation of blocking water flows to downstream countries. The Ethiopian government, in response, has called the claim categorically false and politically motivated.
“The GERD is fully funded by the Ethiopian people and government,” the Coordination Office said in a statement on Tuesday. “No external party, including the United States, has financed its construction.”
A Homegrown Project
Launched in 2011 (2003 E.C.), the GERD has long been a symbol of national pride and self-reliance for Ethiopia. The project was intentionally built without financial support from major Western donors or Bretton Woods institutions due to what Ethiopian officials describe as coordinated pressure from Egypt to block funding through diplomatic and economic means.
Despite those efforts, Ethiopians across all walks of life mobilized to raise funds through bond sales, grassroots donations, and government allocations. According to official figures:
Over 23.6 billion birr has been raised directly from the public;
In the past year alone, 1.7 billion birr was mobilized;
Citizens have contributed more than $450 million in bond purchases and donations;
Wealthy individuals added $88 million in voluntary contributions;
The Ethiopian government invested over $5 billion USD from its own national budget;
“Every drop of water that turns a turbine in the GERD represents the will of our people, not the cheque of a foreign power,” said a senior engineer working on the project, speaking anonymously due to political sensitivity.
The Politics Behind the Narrative
Trump’s latest assertions are viewed in Addis Ababa as part of a broader attempt to rewrite the dam’s origin story in a way that strengthens Egypt’s negotiating position. During his previous tenure, the Trump administration had sided openly with Cairo during failed U.S.-brokered talks, prompting Ethiopia to walk away from the process in 2020.
Analysts suggest that framing GERD as a U.S.-funded project could serve multiple goals for Trump: claiming leverage over Nile waters, presenting himself as a power broker in Middle East–Africa relations, and justifying controversial proposals linking water access to geopolitical concessions, including rumored discussions about population resettlement from Gaza to Sinai.
“Trump’s comments are not simply inaccurate they are strategically misleading,” said Dr. Aregawi Beyene, an expert in hydro-politics. “They imply ownership over a project the U.S. never supported, and serve as a tool to pressure Ethiopia into accepting an unequal water-sharing agreement.”
No Apology, No Retreat
The Ethiopian government has long maintained that Nile waters must be equitably and reasonably shared among all riparian states. GERD, once fully operational, is expected to produce over 6,400 megawatts of electricity, powering industries across Ethiopia and neighboring countries. The project has become a unifying symbol of national determination, built in defiance of international isolation.
“No foreign president has a claim on GERD,” the Coordination Office emphasized. “No propaganda can erase who built it. And no pressure will stop Ethiopia from using its own river.”
As tensions over the Nile continue to simmer, Ethiopia’s message is clear: the dam belongs to Ethiopians funded by them, built by them, and defended by them.
