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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As expected, US President Donald Trump pressed Jordan's King Abdullah to permanently accept Palestinians who would be displaced under a plan to annex the Gaza Strip at a meeting on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. King Abdullah said his country strongly opposes the move, Reuters reported.
Speaking alongside Arab leaders at the White House, Trump signaled that he would not change his idea that would see residents of the Gaza Strip shaken by Israeli attacks relocated and turn the war-torn territory into what he called the "Riviera of the Middle East."
Trump has angered the Arab world by saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes under his proposal to rebuild the enclave, which was devastated by Israeli attacks.
"We're going to take it. We're going to hold it, we're going to covet it. We're going to make it happen eventually, where there's going to be a lot of jobs for people in the Middle East," Trump said in the Oval Office, saying his plan would "bring peace" to the region.
King Abdullah said later that he reiterated to Trump “Jordan’s firm position” on the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in the occupied West Bank that borders his country.
“This is a unified Arab position,” he said in an article for X. “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation must be a priority for all parties.”
Despite his Jordanian counterpart’s views, Trump said Jordan, as well as Egypt, would eventually agree to take in displaced Gazans. Both countries rely on Washington for economic and military aid.
“I’m sure we’ll have a piece of land in Jordan. I’m sure we’ll have a piece of land in Egypt,” Trump said. “We may have other places, but I think when we get through our talks, we’ll have a place where they’ll live very happily and very safely.”
Questionable US aid
Trump, who has suggested he might consider withholding aid to Jordan, said he was not using the aid as a threat.
"We give a lot of money to Jordan, and we give a lot to Egypt - a lot to both. But I don't have to threaten. I think we're above that," Trump said.
King Abdullah has previously said he opposes any move to annex land and displace Palestinians. He is the first Arab leader to meet Trump since the Gaza plan was unveiled.
While the two leaders have been on friendly terms, Trump's comments on Gaza put King Abdullah in an awkward position, given Jordan's sensitivity to Palestinian claims to the right of return to land they fled during the war that created Israel in 1948.
Trump at one point appeared to push King Abdullah to say he would take in Palestinians from Gaza. The king said he would do what was best for his country, but said Jordan would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza for treatment, an offer Trump praised.
Arab countries would come to Washington with counterproposals, he said.
"The bottom line is how to make this work in a way that's good for everybody," he said, appearing uncomfortable, without explicitly endorsing or opposing Trump's plan.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi later told Jordan’s state-run al-Mamlaka TV that there was an Egyptian-led Arab plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its residents.
Jordanian officials ahead of the talks said they wanted to avoid a public engagement that would put Trump in a bad light, and remarks in the Oval Office were not planned.
The two spoke to reporters alongside the king’s son, Crown Prince Hussein, Safadi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials who were also present. The king later met with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators including John Thune, the Republican majority leader.
Wedged between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the occupied West Bank, Jordan is home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees in a population of 11 million, whose status and numbers have long been a source of unease for the country’s leaders.
Amman is also reeling from Trump’s 90-day aid pause. Israel and Egypt have been granted waivers, but the $1.45 billion in aid Jordan receives annually remains frozen pending a Trump administration review of all foreign aid.
Fragile ceasefire
Trump’s proposal has introduced new complexity into sensitive regional dynamics, including the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Hamas said on Monday it would halt the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza until further notice, saying Israel was violating an agreement to end the offensive that has battered Gaza. Trump then proposed scrapping the ceasefire if Hamas did not release all remaining hostages it had taken by Oct. 7, 2023, by Saturday.
Three in four Americans — 74 percent — in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Feb. 7-9 said they opposed the idea of the U.S. taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinians living there. The poll showed Republicans were divided on the issue, with 55 percent opposed and 43 percent in favor.
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