King of Jordan pushes back on Trump Gaza plan after White House meeting

King Abdullah II reemphasized Jordan’s long-standing relationship with the United States on Tuesday after a White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Abdullah described the meeting as constructive, according to statements posted after the meeting. However, he also reiterated what he characterized as the unified Arab position against relocating Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. Abdullah insisted that Trump needed to support the creation of a Palestinian state because he said it was the only road to lasting peace.

Despite Trump’s push for Jordan to take in Gaza refugees, Abdullah said he placed a higher priority on the stability and well-being of Jordanians. However, the king did pledge to shelter 2,000 Palestinian children with serious illnesses in Jordan during a joint news conference at the White House. Abdullah also described Trump as the leader who could bring long-awaited stability and prosperity to the troubled Middle East region.

What else was said during the visit? Trump continued to push for the United States to take over operations in Gaza while addressing the media with Abdullah. During the joint news conference, Trump repeated concerns that the region's history of cyclical violence would continue if Palestinians returned. Palestinians want to return to the danger and violence of Gaza because it’s all they know, Trump said. The president claimed refugees wouldn’t want to return to Gaza after experiencing the safety and prosperity of resettlement sites. Trump also insisted that the United States would not purchase Gaza but would still keep control of the region. There’s nothing left in Gaza to purchase, Trump said. The United States will keep the region and run it properly and peacefully, he added.

Was there any discussion about the hostages still held by Hamas? Hamas has said it will pause Saturday’s scheduled release of hostages, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire. In response, Trump issued an ultimatum on Monday giving the terror group until noon on Saturday to release all of the hostages or else face severe consequences. During the news conference, Trump said he doubted Hamas would honor his Saturday ultimatum. Trump described the three hostages returned last Saturday as emaciated—likening them to Holocaust survivors—and speculated that they were the healthiest captives Hamas had. Trump also took issue with the case of elderly hostage Shlomo Mantzur. Up until Tuesday, Israeli authorities believed the 85-year-old was alive and well when he was actually dead, Trump said. The president described growing tired of the slow, sporadic trickle of hostages being released.

“They [Hamas] either have them out by Saturday at 12 o’clock or all bets are off,” Trump finished.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report about Hamas delaying the hostage exchange scheduled last weekend.