Key takeaways from the meeting with Trump and Jordan’s King Abdullah

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has go the archetypal Arab person to meet Donald Trump successful the White House since the United States president’s 2nd word began connected January 20.

Tuesday’s sit-down with Trump, however, enactment Abdullah successful a delicate situation.

While Jordan and the US person historically had beardown ties, Trump has repeatedly pressured Abdullah and his authorities to judge displaced Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, wherever Israel has conducted a subject battle since October 2023.

The US, meanwhile, has said it would “take over” and “own” a Gaza emptied of its residents, a connection critics said would magnitude to ethnic cleansing.

“It’s not a analyzable happening to do,” Trump said again connected Tuesday. “With the United States being successful power of that portion of onshore — that reasonably ample portion of onshore — you’re going to person stableness successful the Middle East for the archetypal time.”

Both Jordan and its state Egypt person refused to judge forcibly displaced Palestinians.

Abdullah’s gathering came arsenic a caller ceasefire successful Gaza risks unravelling. Israel has threatened — connected the backmost of remarks from Trump himself — to restart bombing connected Saturday if the Palestinian radical Hamas does not merchandise each captives by Saturday.

But Abdullah avoided straight contradicting Trump during their meeting, alluding alternatively to a aboriginal program from Egypt.

Here are immoderate of the cardinal takeaways from the gathering betwixt Abdullah and Trump.

Trump doubles down connected Gaza takeover program (again)

Inside the Oval Office, journalists asked Trump astir his comments that the US would instrumentality implicit Gaza and that the Palestinians surviving determination would beryllium moved elsewhere, with no close of return.

He was nonstop successful his responses, seemingly deaf to the incredulous quality of immoderate of the questions. Yes, the US would instrumentality power of Gaza and rebuild it. Yes, the Palestinians who person been surviving determination for generations — galore of them already refugees from what is present Israel — would determination to “parcels of land” successful Jordan and Egypt.

“We’re going to instrumentality it. We’re going to clasp it. We’re going to cherish it. We’re going to get it going yet wherever a batch of jobs are going to beryllium created for the radical successful the Middle East,” Trump said, without giving specifics.

Trump besides doubled down connected his threats that the ceasefire with Israel would extremity if Hamas’s leaders bash not merchandise the remaining Israeli captives held successful the enclave implicit the adjacent 4 days.

“I don’t deliberation they’re going to marque the deadline, personally,” Trump said. “They privation to play pugnacious guy. We’ll spot however pugnacious they are.”

He added that helium would not judge a slower timeline: “They either person them retired by Saturday astatine 12 o’clock oregon each bets are off.”

Trump had announced that deadline a time earlier, successful seemingly off-the-cuff comments with reporters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since echoed Trump’s threats, informing that his subject — which has already killed much than 61,700 Palestinians since 2023 — would recommence its bombing run successful Gaza if the Israeli captives were not released.

One contented Trump did look to backmost down on, astatine slightest successful beforehand of Abdullah and the cameras, was his menace that assistance could beryllium withheld from Jordan and Egypt if they bash not hold to his Gaza displacement plan.

“I don’t person to endanger that,” Trump said. “I bash judge we’re supra that.”

Abdullah diplomatic, but says Arab states person ain program for Gaza

In gathering with Trump, the Jordanian monarch was confronting a difficult task: How was helium going to reiterate his country’s absorption to Trump’s Gaza program without offending a president not known for his tolerance for dissent?

In the end, Abdullah chose to debar speaking excessively overmuch successful beforehand of the media, and erstwhile helium did, his connection was careful, precise and designed to debar offence.

When asked whether Jordan would instrumentality successful Palestinians displaced from Gaza, the Jordanian person said helium would bash what was “best” for his country.

In societal media posts aft the meeting, helium said that Jordan was “steadfast” successful its “position against the displacement of Palestinians successful Gaza and the West Bank”.

He added that Arab states would travel up with their ain program for Gaza, which would beryllium presented aft it was finalised. He besides flattered Trump, saying: “I yet spot idiosyncratic that tin instrumentality america crossed the decorativeness enactment to bring stability, bid and prosperity to each of america successful the region.”

After the meeting, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi besides said that determination is an Arab program to rebuild Gaza without displacing its people.

Some observers judge that Trump’s Gaza program is simply a negotiating maneuver and that Arab states volition beryllium capable to travel up with a counteroffer.

Trump focuses connected existent estate, not Palestinian attachment to land

The US president, of course, has his roots successful the existent property business.

Much of Trump’s wealth comes from the existent property empire helium inherited from his father, and helium has since leveraged his household sanction to licence eponymous products, arsenic good arsenic big a world TV show.

Some of those existent property leanings, however, bled into the connection helium has utilized erstwhile describing his Gaza program connected Tuesday.

“I’ve had a large vocation successful existent estate,” Trump said nostalgically. “When you’ve done what I’ve done, you tin conscionable bash much bully for radical erstwhile you’re president.”

Trump described Gaza arsenic perchance becoming a “diamond” successful the Middle East. However, erstwhile asked connected Tuesday if helium would see purchasing Gaza arsenic portion of his takeover plan, Trump was dismissive.

“We’re not going to buy. There’s thing to buy,” Trump said. “We volition person Gaza. No crushed to buy. It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area.”

Critics accidental his imaginativeness for Gaza — redeveloped with hotels, offices and a “riviera” ambiance — seems divorced from the authorities of the region. Palestinians person agelong withstood pressures to unit them from their remaining land, contempt decades of continued Israeli occupation.

On Tuesday, Trump erstwhile again emphasised that Palestinians would not privation to enactment successful Gaza, seemingly ignoring their attachment to their land.

That nationalism was astir precocious seen erstwhile hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians utilized the ceasefire to instrumentality to bluish Gaza, adjacent if astir of their homes had been destroyed by Israel. The bulk of them made the travel connected foot.

Their connection was a elemental one: that they were not going to permission again.