Jordan’s King Abdullah II has change into the primary Arab chief to meet Donald Trump within the White Home since america president’s second time period started on January 20.
Tuesday’s sit-down with Trump, nevertheless, put Abdullah in a fragile scenario.
Whereas Jordan and the US have traditionally had robust ties, Trump has repeatedly pressured Abdullah and his authorities to simply accept displaced Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, the place Israel has carried out a army assault since October 2023.
The US, in the meantime, has stated it will “take over” and “personal” a Gaza emptied of its residents, a proposal critics stated would quantity to ethnic cleansing.
“It’s not a posh factor to do,” Trump stated once more on Tuesday. “With america being answerable for that piece of land — that pretty massive piece of land — you’re going to have stability within the Center East for the primary time.”
Each Jordan and its ally Egypt have refused to simply accept forcibly displaced Palestinians.
Abdullah’s assembly got here as a current ceasefire in Gaza dangers unravelling. Israel has threatened — on the again of remarks from Trump himself — to restart bombing on Saturday if the Palestinian group Hamas doesn’t launch all captives by Saturday.
However Abdullah prevented immediately contradicting Trump throughout their assembly, alluding as an alternative to a future plan from Egypt.
Listed here are a few of the key takeaways from the assembly between Abdullah and Trump.
Trump doubles down on Gaza takeover plan (once more)
Contained in the Oval Workplace, journalists requested Trump about his feedback that the US would take over Gaza and that the Palestinians dwelling there could be moved elsewhere, with no right of return.
He was direct in his responses, seemingly deaf to the incredulous nature of a few of the questions. Sure, the US would take management of Gaza and rebuild it. Sure, the Palestinians who’ve been dwelling there for generations — lots of them already refugees from what’s now Israel — would transfer to “parcels of land” in Jordan and Egypt.
“We’re going to take it. We’re going to carry it. We’re going to cherish it. We’re going to get it going finally the place a number of jobs are going to be created for the folks within the Center East,” Trump stated, with out giving specifics.
Trump additionally doubled down on his threats that the ceasefire with Israel would finish if Hamas’s leaders don’t launch the remaining Israeli captives held within the enclave over the subsequent 4 days.
“I don’t suppose they’re going to make the deadline, personally,” Trump stated. “They need to play powerful man. We’ll see how powerful they’re.”
He added that he wouldn’t settle for a slower timeline: “They both have them out by Saturday at 12 o’clock or all bets are off.”
Trump had introduced that deadline a day earlier, in seemingly off-the-cuff feedback with reporters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since echoed Trump’s threats, warning that his army — which has already killed greater than 61,700 Palestinians since 2023 — would recommence its bombing marketing campaign in Gaza if the Israeli captives weren’t launched.
One concern Trump did appear to again down on, not less than in entrance of Abdullah and the cameras, was his menace that help may very well be withheld from Jordan and Egypt if they don’t conform to his Gaza displacement plan.
“I don’t should threaten that,” Trump stated. “I do consider we’re above that.”
Abdullah diplomatic, however says Arab states have personal plan for Gaza
In assembly with Trump, the Jordanian monarch was confronting a difficult task: How was he going to reiterate his nation’s opposition to Trump’s Gaza plan with out offending a president not recognized for his tolerance for dissent?
Ultimately, Abdullah selected to keep away from talking an excessive amount of in entrance of the media, and when he did, his language was cautious, exact and designed to keep away from offence.
When requested whether or not Jordan would soak up Palestinians displaced from Gaza, the Jordanian chief stated he would do what was “finest” for his nation.
In social media posts after the assembly, he stated that Jordan was “steadfast” in its “place towards the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Financial institution”.
He added that Arab states would give you their very own plan for Gaza, which might be offered after it was finalised. He additionally flattered Trump, saying: “I lastly see someone that may take us throughout the end line to carry stability, peace and prosperity to all of us within the area.”
After the assembly, Jordan’s International Minister Ayman Safadi additionally stated that there’s an Arab plan to rebuild Gaza with out displacing its folks.
Some observers consider that Trump’s Gaza plan is a negotiating tactic and that Arab states will be capable of give you a counteroffer.
Trump focuses on actual property, not Palestinian attachment to land
The US president, after all, has his roots in the actual property enterprise.
A lot of Trump’s cash comes from the actual property empire he inherited from his father, and he has since leveraged his household title to license eponymous merchandise, in addition to host a actuality TV present.
A few of these actual property leanings, nevertheless, bled into the language he has used when describing his Gaza plan on Tuesday.
“I’ve had an incredible profession in actual property,” Trump stated nostalgically. “Once you’ve accomplished what I’ve accomplished, you may simply do extra good for folks whenever you’re president.”
Trump described Gaza as probably turning into a “diamond” within the Center East. Nevertheless, when requested on Tuesday if he would contemplate buying Gaza as a part of his takeover plan, Trump was dismissive.
“We’re not going to purchase. There’s nothing to purchase,” Trump stated. “We could have Gaza. No cause to purchase. It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn space.”
Critics say his imaginative and prescient for Gaza — redeveloped with resorts, places of work and a “riviera” environment — appears divorced from the politics of the area. Palestinians have lengthy withstood pressures to drive them from their remaining land, regardless of a long time of continued Israeli occupation.
On Tuesday, Trump as soon as once more emphasised that Palestinians wouldn’t need to keep in Gaza, seemingly ignoring their attachment to their land.
That nationalism was most just lately seen when lots of of 1000’s of displaced Palestinians used the ceasefire to return to northern Gaza, even when most of their houses had been destroyed by Israel. The vast majority of them made the journey on foot.
Their message was a easy one: that they weren’t going to go away once more.
