Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is also meeting with Hillary Clinton. | Getty Trump to meet with Egyptian president He's seemingly trying to match Clinton's efforts to appear presidential on an international stage.

NEW YORK — Donald Trump has apparently taken Hillary Clinton's bait.

The Republican presidential nominee will meet on Monday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, according to the Egyptian state media.


Clinton, the Democratic nominee, announced last week that she would meet with Sisi as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, among other foreign leaders, during the annual U.N. gathering. An aide confirmed late Sunday that she'll also be meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Clinton's announcement appeared designed to show off her international relations prowess, honed by her years as first lady and secretary of state. Members of Trump's campaign reached out to by POLITICO did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation of his plans to meet the Egyptian leader, but the real estate mogul, who has relatively little foreign relations experience, may find the prospect of sharing a stage with global leaders to be irresistible.

Trump has said he plans to work with Sisi to fight terrorism as president, describing him as a leader who recognizes that "this ideology of death that must be extinguished."

Sisi emerged as a politically savvy general amid the chaos of Egypt's 2011 revolution, and he took power after popular protests in 2013 ousted the elected government of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. Morsi was elected president after protests ousted longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, but he is now in prison under a death sentence imposed in May 2015.

Since taking over, Sisi has overseen harsh crackdowns in Egypt, not just against Muslim Brotherhood members and sympathizers but also liberals and secularists hoping to see the Arab country achieve real democracy. It was under Sisi that Egyptian security forces killed hundreds of Morsi supporters in a Cairo square in August 2013, prompting intense discussions in the U.S. about how to react to the massacre.

Clinton's decision to meet with Sisi has already raised questions among human rights activists. Her perceived closeness to Mubarak's family and seeming slowness to embrace Egypt's Arab Spring democratic movement in 2011 already has made her an unpopular figure among many Egyptians. At the same time, her decision to meet Sisi could send a message to other Arab allies in the region, many of them also under the rule of autocrats, that, if elected president, she will put a premium on supporting leaders who can bring stability to an increasingly chaotic region.

Trump has spoken favorably of a number of foreign strongmen, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he also called on the United States to bar immigration from terror-compromised countries — one of which would likely be Egypt. The Manhattan billionaire is an unpopular figure in Egypt, where many are unhappy with his past calls to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States.

Clinton's decision to meet with Poroshenko appears to be a signal to Putin that she will not go easy on him for invading Ukraine. The Russian leader is not expected to attend this year's General Assembly. The Democratic nominee's meeting with Abe is another subtle shot at Trump, who has raised questions about America's trade and security commitments to longtime ally Japan. Clinton is expected to meet Abe, Sisi and Poroshenko all on Monday.



