Dealing with the newly re-elected president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Trump administration must balance U.S. policy to short and longer term interests. Doing so is not easy.

At one level, the U.S. has obvious short-term counterterrorism interests that are advanced by cooperation with Sisi’s government. Defined by his tenure as head of the Egyptian army and notionally pro-American by his time at U.S. and British military schools, Sisi has an open ear to U.S. counterterrorism concerns. He has also presided over a robust military campaign against ISIS and other terrorist groups operating on Egyptian soil.