Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi telephoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election and invite him to Cairo, in what Sisi’s office said was the US president-elect’s first call from a world leader.
Earlier, a warmly-worded statement from the Egyptian presidency, issued shortly after Trump’s victory became clear, said that Egypt “now hopes that Donald Trump’s presidency will breathe a new spirit into Egyptian-American relations.”
Sisi’s relations with Washington have been cool since 2013 when, as army chief, he deposed the elected but increasingly unpopular Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.
The US held back some of its military aid to Egypt after Mursi was ousted, although that was later restored.
Cairo responded by wooing Moscow and concluded major arms deals with both Russia and France.
Egyptian pro-government media has repeatedly portrayed the Obama administration as being intent on harming Egypt or even as backing Mursi’s now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
The reaction from mainly Muslim Egypt comes despite controversial comments, widely seen as anti-Islamic, that Trump made during his campaign.
Trump at one point called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” until the nation’s politicians could “figure out what is going on.”
He appeared to walk that back more recently, but said that he supported “extreme vetting” of those seeking to enter the US.