The BBC posted on 23 July 2025 an article titled "Ethiopian Official Denies Donald Trump's Claim that US Funded River Nile Dam" by Wedaeli Chibelushi.
President Trump asserted in a meeting last week that "US money largely" funded the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. An Ethiopian official responded that Ethiopia built the dam "without any foreign aid." The money came from Ethiopian bonds sold to companies, pledges from Ethiopian government civil service salaries, and donations from the Ethiopian diaspora.
Comment: I am not aware of any US government funding for the dam. The Ethiopian diaspora in the United States made a modest but not precisely known contribution to GERD funding.
