Jordan’s King Abdullah II's Strategy
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the first Middle Eastern leader to meet with President Donald Trump since he announced his intention to take over the Gaza Strip, deflected questions about the plan to displace Palestinians as he tried to avoid a public face-to-face confrontation with Trump.
Abdullah, who dismissed Trump’s Gaza proposal when it was announced last week, told Trump at the White House on Tuesday — with members of the press in the room — that he would accept 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza while punting the question of broader resettlement to Egypt.
Trump, who threatened Monday to withhold U.S. aid to Jordan if the country continued its opposition to taking in masses of Palestinians of all ages, appeared placated by the king’s more limited overture during Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting.
Regional Dynamics and Resettlement Challenges
There’s broad opposition to relocating Palestinians out of Gaza in Jordan and across all Arab nations in the region. But Egypt and other countries are coordinating a regional strategy aimed at satisfying Trump’s desire to force a resolution to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been ravaged by 15 months of war with Israel.
Abdullah was careful to articulate a broader willingness to work with Trump, flattering him by suggesting the president could be a historic peacemaker.
Challenges and Controversies
During the public portion of his meeting with Jordan’s king, Trump gave no ground on his proposal to relocate nearly 2 million Palestinians and for the U.S. to lead a private redevelopment project in Gaza, although he struggled to explain how America would control the area or under what authority, stating flatly — and falsely — that “nobody would question it.”
Trump also expressed optimism that his plan, which many in the region see as ethnic cleansing, would bring peace to a region long at war.
Most importantly for Jordan’s king, Trump backed away from his threat just a day earlier to withhold aid.
Future Implications and Diplomatic Balancing Act
But Trump’s own ultimatum and threatening rhetoric could help Israel create a pretext for ending the fragile cease-fire with Hamas. And despite Abdullah’s careful diplomacy at the White House, Trump’s unbending commitment to a plan critics have described as disingenuous and unrealistic is threatening broader stability across the Middle East, putting a number of Arab allies in a difficult position.
Jordan, for instance, has experienced years of tensions between citizens of Palestinian descent and those who are not. As Trump spoke at length about his vision for the Middle East, Abdullah, blinking heavily, offered no pushback with the press in the room.
But since taking office for the second time, Trump has shown little restraint in his efforts to pressure allies to agree to his terms. Asked in the Oval Office under what legal authority the U.S. could take control of Gaza, a “sovereign territory,” the president made clear he wasn’t concerned.
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