During the 2011 Egyptian revolution top US government officials urged Hosni Mubarak and his government to reform , to refrain from using violence and to respect the rights of protesters such as the right to peaceful assembly and association . Ties between the two countries became strained after Egyptian soldiers and police raided 17 offices of local and foreign NGOs — including the International Republican Institute ( IRI ) , the National Democratic Institute ( NDI ) , Freedom House and the German Konrad-Adenauer Foundation on December 29 , 2011 because of allegations of illegal funding from abroad . The United States condemned the raids as an attack on democratic values and threatened to stop the $ 1.3 bn in military aid and about $ 250m in economic aid Washington gives Egypt every year , but this threat was dismissed by the Egyptian government . 43 NGO members including Sam LaHood , son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood , and Nancy Okail , then resident director of U.S.-based NGO Freedom House 's operations in Egypt , were charged with obtaining international funds illegally and failing to register with the Egyptian government . After an appeal by those charged , the case had been switched from a criminal court to one handling misdemeanours , where the maximum penalty was a fine and not imprisonment . After lifting a travel ban on 17 foreign NGO members , among them 9 Americans , the United States and Egypt began to repair their relations . Nevertheless , on September 11 , 2012 , ( the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks ) Egyptian protesters stormed the US embassy in Cairo , tore down the American flag and replaced it with a flag with Islamic symbols , to mock the Americans after an anti-Islamic movie denigrating the Islamic prophet , Muhammad , was shot in the United States and released on the internet
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Egypt–United States relations