President Donald Trump met with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on Tuesday. A major topic of their conversation was Trump’s declared intention to take control of Gaza, a plan he said is still on the table – and he expects Jordan and Egypt to get on board.
A major sticking point in Trump’s plan to turn war-ravaged Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” as he put it, would be relocating the Palestinians to another location while Gaza is rebuilt. This would almost certainly mean moving large numbers of the population to Egypt and Jordan, both of which feel they already have more than enough Palestinians.
Trump has previously indicated he would consider using economic leverage to get Egypt and Jordan to take more refugees. After meeting with Abdullah, whom he described as a “great man,” Trump said sanctions were no longer on his mind.
“I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said.
For his part, Abdullah offered no firm comment on the matter, although his government has been very forceful until now in rejecting both Trump’s plan for Gaza and more Palestinian refugees.
Jordanian media might be surprised by Abdullah’s reticence, since they expected the king to lay out “red lines” in his meeting with Trump and forcefully defend the sacred right of the Palestinians to live somewhere other than Jordan. The Jordanian political establishment was expecting a “historic” confrontation between their king and the upstart American president.
Instead, Abdullah offered to take in another 2,000 Palestinian children from Gaza who need medical treatment, a proposal Trump hailed as a “beautiful gesture.”
Trump proceeded to declare himself “99 percent” confident that Egypt could be persuaded to help with some version of his Gaza plan. King Abdullah came far short of rejecting Trump’s proposals out of hand, instead saying he would reserve further comment until he heard what the Egyptians have to say.
“I finally see somebody that can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace, and prosperity to all of us in the region,” Abdullah said.
“We have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan,” he said after his meeting with Trump.
When reporters asked Trump exactly how he would go about buying Gaza, the president replied: “We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it. We’re going to keep it, and we’re going to make sure that there’s going to be peace.”
“We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it,” he said.
“We’ll make it exciting,” he said of his plans to renovate the war zone. “I think it’s going to be something that’s going to be magnificent for the Palestinians.”
“I did very well with real estate. I can tell you about real estate. They’re going to be in love,” he said.
