White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a press briefing Monday that cutting off aid to Egypt in the wake of the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi “would not be in the best interest of the United States.”
Carney did not call Morsi’s ouster a “coup,” which would disqualify the country from receiving $1.5 billion in assistance from the U.S. He rather described it as a “difficult” and “complicated” issue to label without a “simple and easy answer.”
“I think it would not be in the best interest of the United States to immediately change our assistance programs to Egypt,” Carney said. “Not just I, we think it would not be in our best interests.”
“We are going to take the time necessary to review what has taken place,” he added, affirming that the White House will consult with Congress before deciding whether the events in Egypt constituted a coup.
