Following the election of Republican Donald Trump as the President of the United States, the two countries looked to improve the Egyptian-American relations. El-Sisi and Trump had met during the opening of the seventy-first session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. The absence of Egypt in President Trump's travel ban towards seven Muslim countries was noted in Washington, although the Congress has voiced human rights concerns over the handling of dissidents. On 22 March 2017, it was reported that el-Sisi would be traveling to Washington to meet with Trump on 3 April 2017. President Trump praised el-Sisi, saying that el-Sisi had "done a tremendous job under trying circumstance". On 26 August 2019, Trump met with el-Sisi, along with other global leaders, in the 45th G7 summit in Biarritz, France. Trump continued his earlier praise of el-Sisi, saying that "Egypt has made tremendous progress under a great leader's leadership".