Abdullah II, King of Jordan (left) and Donald Trump, US President (right). Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP.
President Trump doubled down on his plan to forcibly displace Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to Jordan and Egypt during a meeting with King Abdullah II
US President Donald Trump stated that he believes the US “will have Gaza,” citing “US authority” to claim the enclave following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on 11 February.
“We’re going to have it, we’re going to keep it, and we’re going to make sure that there’s going to be peace and there’s not going to be any problem, and nobody’s going to question it, and we’re going to run it very properly,” Trump told reporters.
President Trump was repeating the demand he made last week that Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents be forcibly displaced from their homes and lands and that Egypt and Jordan receive them. Trump threatened to cut billions in aid to Jordan, a close US ally, if it refuses to resettle Palestinians.
Trump stated that there's no need to purchase Gaza because the US will take and hold it, as it's a war-torn area. #Trump #Gaza #MSNBC pic.twitter.com/aqGmsRzdKX
— Anti-Woke Warrior (@AntiWokeWar_) February 11, 2025
Trump had claimed he would “clean out” Gaza of Palestinians and “buy it” to redevelop it for others as the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Trump’s allies in Israel’s right-wing government plan to populate the enclave with Jewish settlers once many or all Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed from it.
However, following his meeting with the Jordanian monarch, Trump insisted the US would not have to buy the enclave.
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“We’re not gonna have to buy … we’re gonna have Gaza, we don’t have to buy, there’s nothing to buy,” he said. “It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it, we’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East. It’s going to be for the people in the Middle East, but I think it could be a diamond.”
King Abdullah II has said he rejected any Israeli plan to annex Palestinian land and displace Palestinians. However, he stated during the meeting with Trump, “I truly believe with all the challenges we have in the Middle East, I finally see somebody who can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace, and prosperity to all of us in the region.”
🚫🇺🇸🇯🇴 King Abdullah of Jordan to President Trump:
“I truly believe with all the challenges we have in the Middle East, I finally see somebody who can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace, and prosperity to all of us in the region.”
No comment..😁 pic.twitter.com/vEUSfiDuin
— 아스트로 _ 세이토🔻🫶💚 (@angels_bac58190) February 11, 2025
Trump previously expressed his frustration with the Jordanian Monarch and Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“I do think he’ll take” refugees, Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
When asked if he would withhold aid from Jordan and Egypt if they refused his demands, Trump said: “Yeah, maybe, sure, why not… if they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid.”
With its population of 11 million, Jordan is already home to more than two million Palestinian refugees, the descendants of Palestinians ethnically cleansed from British mandate Palestine by Zionist militias during the 1948 Nakba. Israel was created after more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and lands.
Washington provides Amman with more than $1 billion in economic and military assistance, giving Trump considerable leverage over the Jordanian monarch.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, and its intelligence service works closely with that of Tel Aviv. The Hashemite Kingdom also helped shoot down Iranian missiles and drones targeting Israel during two retaliatory attacks in 2024.
