US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had a positive conversation with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on issues including Gaza, where Washington has proposed displacement of the population.

“My telephone call with President [el-Sissi], of Egypt, went very well,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He said that the two spoke about the “tremendous military progress” by the United States in strikes against Yemen’s Houthi insurgents, who have been attacking Red Sea shipping in professed solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in the Gaza Strip.

Trump said, without explanation, that “also discussed was Gaza, and possible solutions, Military preparedness, etc.”

Trump stunned the region in February by proposing the mass displacement of war-ravaged Gaza’s population so that the US could take over the territory for real estate development. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced support for the idea amid continued fighting in Gaza, from which Hamas on October 7, 2023, invaded southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, triggering the war.

Trump proposed his plan during a ceasefire, mediated by the US, Egypt, and Qatar, that halted the war in January. The truce saw the release of dozens of hostages, alive and dead, in small batches as Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners it had incarcerated and enabled a boost in humanitarian aid deliveries. However, the truce fell apart after its first stage amid mutual accusations of violations, and Israel began bombing targets in Gaza two weeks ago.

The Palestinians, as well as Arab and Islamic nations, have rejected Trump’s proposal.

Egypt, which borders Gaza, came up with its own plan that would finance reconstruction of the territory. The US State Department replied at the time that it did not meet Washington’s expectations.

Throughout the war in Gaza, the Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea, choking the key trade route and forcing ships to take a long, expensive route around Africa. They have also repeatedly fired drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, sending millions of Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters at all hours of the day and night. The attacks paused while the ceasefire held up, but the Houthis restarted their assaults when Israel resumed strikes on Gaza with repeated missile attacks.

The US has recently carried out airstrikes on the Houthis, aiming to stop their attacks on shipping and open the Red Sea route.

Trump has had close relations with Sissi, famously being reported to have called him “my favorite dictator” during a meeting in 2019.

Egypt has been one of the top recipients of US aid since it became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, with Washington brushing aside human rights concerns, including what rights groups say is the detention of tens of thousands of political prisoners under Sissi’s rule.

The United States gives more than $1 billion in military assistance a year to Egypt, with Trump exempting it from sweeping cuts in US aid.