Since the overthrow of President Morsi by the military in 2013, domestic developments in Egypt have had a ‘cancellation effect' on the transition process toward democracy initiated in 2011. Increasingly used by the US as a strategic relay and by the EU as a watchman, Egypt heavily relies on Western economic aid and military support to sustain itself. While in the US, Trump's approach falls in line with Obama's realism, the European Union is returning to a pre-Arab Spring accommodation of authoritarianism, revealing a pervasiveness of short-term realism among Western views on Egypt. Renewed realist approaches in Washington and European capitals comfort Cairo, allowing Al-Sisi to ‘shop' for support on both sides of the Atlantic. By contrast, enhanced EU-US convergence towards greater attention for democracy and human rights would compel the regime to initiate social and societal reforms fostering long-term domestic stability.