“Trump is the only one talking about this call, but it simply did not happen," Sherif Amer said on his show Yahduth Fi Misr in response to claims by the US president on Monday that he had spoken to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to urge him to take in Palestinians as part of his proposal to “clean out” the enclave (watch, runtime: 2:16). "The White House and the US State Department follow strict protocols that require issuing an official statement after any call involving the American president. So far, there is no official information or indication of such a call between Trump and El Sisi from the relevant authorities in either Egypt or the US,” he added.
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“I have never seen lying reach the level of heads of state…We are living in an age of wonders,” political commentator Mostafa El Feki told Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 22:25). The news was covered across the airwaves, including by Lamees El Hadidi on Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 5:53) and Mohamed Sherdy on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:53).
The nation’s hosts also continued to lambast Trump’s call to ethnically cleanse the strip, with Lamees El Hadidi covering the topic for a third night in a row and painting the proposal as “unrealistic and dangerous” on Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 1:03). Regular pundits also joined in, like El Fiki, who told Amer that "Trump's proposals are unacceptable, widely rejected in the Arab world, and pose a threat to peace and security in the region, potentially leading to disastrous consequences."
Like many of her fellow hosts, El Hadidi called for a unified Arab response, telling her audience that “the region cannot afford more instability, and this idea is a recipe for disaster.” (watch, runtime: 1:23).