President Trump hosts King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday amid a sharp dispute over Trump’s bombshell proposal to take over and rebuild Gaza — while sending its 2 million Palestinian residents to live somewhere else.
Trump will hold meetings and a cordial lunch for the visiting monarch as he tries to get the king to back the glitzy redevelopment plan and perhaps even accept some of the Palestinians who would be displaced.
The new president fired a shot across King Abdullah’s bow by suggesting he might slash U.S. aid to Jordan if he doesn’t come around to back the plan.
“Maybe. Sure, why not?” Trump told reporters. “If they don’t (support the plan), I would conceivably withhold aid, yes.”
Most analysts say Abdullah will do anything he can to placate Trump without agreeing to back the plan that several human rights groups say would amount to forcible ethnic cleansing if the Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza willingly.
Jordan’s population includes a large Palestinian minority already, and Abdullah can ill afford to be seen as working hand in glove with Trump and Israel to effectively expel Palestinians from their internationally recognized homeland.
In addition to concerns about jeopardizing the long-held goals of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Jordan has also raised security concerns about the potentially destabilizing influence of welcoming large numbers of additional refugees.
Egypt, one of the biggest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, has taken a similar stance to that of Jordan.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said last week that his country’s opposition to the Trump plan was “firm and unwavering.”
But Trump has brushed aside those misgivings, believing he can strong arm Western-allied Arab nations into backing and even participating in his audacious plan to create a Palestinian-free “Riviera of the Middle East” in what is now war-ravaged Gaza.
The royal visit unfolds at a perilous moment for the fragile six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Palestinian group says it is pausing future releases of Israeli hostages, accusing Israel of violating the deal. Trump has called for Israel to resume fighting if all those remaining in captivity are not freed by this weekend, a condition that was not part of the original deal.
King Abdullah is the third foreign head of state and the first Arab leader to meet Trump since he returned to the White House on Jan. 20.
Trump announced his ideas for resettling Palestinians from Gaza and the U.S. taking ownership of revitalizing the territory during a press conference last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He initially fudged on the question of whether Palestinians would be allowed to come back to their homeland once the rebuilding is done, but has since said they would not have any right to return.
Trump insists no U.S. troops or taxpayer dollars would be needed for the project, raising key questions about whether it is realistic.