Tuesday,
February 11, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 24
Reuters: Donald Trump meets Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday for what is likely to be a tense encounter following the US president’s Gaza redevelopment idea and threat to cut aid to the US-allied Arab country if it refuses to resettle Palestinians.
Trump’s proposal, floated one week ago, for the US to take over Gaza, move its shell-shocked residents and transform the war-ravaged territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” drew a negative response from the Arab world.
The concept has introduced new complexity into a sensitive regional dynamic, including a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The two leaders are not scheduled to give public remarks together during the visit, reflecting the sensitivity of the talks. It is the first time since taking office again three weeks ago that Trump will greet a foreign leader without allowing press photographs in the Oval Office and a press conference.
For his part, Trump has modified aspects of his initial proposal and doubled down on others. He has expressed increasing impatience with Arab leaders who see the idea as unworkable.
“I do think he’ll take” refugees, Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday of King Abdullah.
Asked if he would withhold aid from Jordan and Egypt if they declined to do so, Trump said: “Yeah, maybe, sure, why not? … if they don’t agree I would conceivably withhold aid.”
Sandwiched between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the occupied West Bank, Jordan is already home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees in its population of 11 million, their status and number long providing a source of anxiety for the country’s leadership.
