By Thalif Deen*
UNITED NATIONS | 23 February 2025 (IDN) — President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off military aid to Egypt and Jordan—if they refuse to provide sanctuary to Palestinians removed from Gaza—is most likely to trigger protests from the US military-industrial complex, one of the most powerful lobbies in the US.
Currently, Egypt and Jordan, along with Israel, are three of the major recipients of US military aid, including some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems, in the Middle East.
This includes Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) and Excess Defense Articles (EDA).
The EDA offers second-hand military equipment at reduced or at no cost to US allies.
According to the State Department, U.S. assistance to Egypt has played a central role in Egypt’s economic and military development and in furthering the U.S.-Egypt strategic partnership and regional stability.
Since 1978, the United States has provided Egypt with over $50 billion in military and $30 billion in economic assistance.
Egypt is also a major security partner of the US and one of the largest recipients of US military aid in the region; it has the status of a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation, according to the State Department.
Meanwhile, since 2015, the US has provided Jordan with $2.155 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), which makes Jordan the third largest global recipient of FMF funds over that time period.
In addition, the Department of Defense (DoD) has provided $327 million to the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) under its “333 Authority”, since 2018, making Jordan one of the largest recipients of this funding.
Further, the United States has supported the Jordan Border Security Program, an integrated border security surveillance, detection, and interdiction system along 350 miles of Jordan’s land borders since 2009, at a cost of over $234 million, according to the State Department.
Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, who represents the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy in her work at the United Nations on conventional weapons and arms trade issues, told IDN one factor that has been given insufficient attention is the extent to which US defense contractors benefit from these military aid programs.
For example, she pointed out, Egypt is required to use its military aid to buy weapons and services from US defense contractors. President Trump can threaten to cut off military aid to countries that don’t agree to accept large number of Palestinians who are removed from Gaza.
“It’s not clear that he can legally cut off military aid that has been appropriated by Congress. But even if he can, that would put him in direct conflict with US defense contractors, whose profits would be decreased as a result of these cuts,” Dr Goldring said.
She said its’s difficult to know which of President Trump’s claims and threats are sincere. Is he sincere when he claims that the United States will take over Gaza and develop it?
Is it mere rhetoric when he claims that Egypt and Jordan will take in the Palestinians whose homes were in the Gaza Strip? Or is this simply more of the bluster for which he is known?
“But in any case, his claims ignore the human rights of the Palestinian people – he consistently treats them as objects, rather than human beings with individual and collective rights. These proposals would also eliminate or at best severely undermine the prospects for a two-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis.”
“President Trump talks about Gaza as a real estate developer more than as a president. He emphasizes its desirable location, and describes its current condition as a ‘demolition site’. He never mentions that it’s the Israeli government that has reduced Gaza to rubble, and that US weapons have been and continue to be critically important in producing that devastation.”
“One enormous open question is what will happen with US foreign aid going forward. When Secretary of State Rubio described the US aid freeze (whose legality has not been established) he exempted military assistance to Israel and Egypt, but not Jordan,” said Dr Goldring.
According to the State Department, total bilateral trade in goods between the United States and Egypt stood at $9.1 billion in 2021, the highest level ever. Egypt is the United States’ largest export market in Africa.
U.S. exports to Egypt include wheat and corn, mineral fuel and oil, machinery, aircraft, and iron and steel products. U.S. imports from Egypt include apparel, natural gas and oil, fertilizers, textiles, and agricultural products.
Under the Qualifying Industrial Zone agreement, the United States waives duties on imports from Egypt if the value includes 10.5% Israeli content; this program promotes stronger ties between the region’s peace partners.
American firms are active in most sectors of the Egyptian economy, including oil and gas exploration and production, renewable energy technologies, financial services, manufacturing, construction, telecommunications and information technology, and the restaurant and hospitality industry.
As for Jordan, the US has $4.47 billion in active government-to-government sales cases with Jordan under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, according to the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
FMS sales notified to Congress and recent and significant prior sales include: F-16 Air Combat Training Center; UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and related equipment; 700 Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems; F-16 weapons, munitions, ground vehicles, jet engines, and logistics support; High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS), and other multiple rocket launch systems; 37 Meter Coastal Patrol Boats; as well as AMRAAM air-to-air and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
Since 2016, the United States has also authorized the permanent export of over $697 million in defense articles to Jordan via the Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) process. The top categories of DCS to Jordan include: aircraft, fire control/night vision, and military electronics.
Jordan was designated a Major Non-NATO ally in 1996, which provides Jordan with a number of benefits reserved to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and allied nations, including potential participation in cooperative research and development, priority delivery for Excess Defense Articles (EDA), and reciprocally-funded cooperative training.
Since 2014, Jordan was authorized to receive three C-130H aircraft, MEI-23E Hawk missiles, cargo trucks, and one Intermediate Level Support Equipment Test Station via the EDA program.
*Thalif Deen, Editor-at-Large at the Berlin-based In-Depth News (IDN) service, is a former Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International, Military Editor, Middle East/Africa, Jane’s Information Group and Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft with the Egyptian air force. As of February 2025, Egypt’s Air Force has 218 F-16 fighter jets in service. The F-16 has been a key part of Egypt’s air force since the Egyptian Air Force first received its first F-16s in 1982.
