Report reveals secret US inquiry into alleged 2016 Egyptian $10m gift to Trump

According to the Post, US federal investigators learned of the withdrawal in 2019, by which time they had spent two years investigating CIA intelligence that indicated Sisi sought to give Trump $10m.

Such a contribution would potentially have violated federal law regarding foreign donations.

This year, in a New York state case concerning hush-money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, Trump was convicted on 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records.

Eight years on, with Trump running for president again, the Post report landed in the aftermath of the bribery conviction of Robert Menendez, a Democratic senator from New Jersey who took gold bars and cash from Egyptian sources.

Menendez faces a maximum sentence of 222 years.

The justice department, the US attorney in Washington DC and the FBI declined to answer questions, the Post said.

The prosecutor who closed the case, Michael Sherwin, said he stood by his decision.