Washington — President Trump is internet hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II on the White Home on Tuesday as he escalates stress on the Arab nation to absorb refugees from Gaza — maybe completely — as a part of his audacious plan to remake the Center East.
Mr. Trump welcomed Abdullah and Crown Prince Hussein on the entrance to the West Wing, and gestured towards the king calling him a “nice man.” They had been set to take questions from reporters earlier than holding a personal assembly within the Oval Workplace and a working lunch within the Cupboard Room.
The go to is going on at a dangerous second for the continuing ceasefire in Gaza as Hamas, accusing Israel of violating the truce, has mentioned it’s pausing future releases of hostages. Mr. Trump has referred to as for Israel to renew preventing if all these remaining in captivity are usually not freed by this weekend.
Mr. Trump has proposed the U.S. take management of Gaza and switch it into “the Riviera of the Center East,” with Palestinians within the war-torn territory pushed into neighboring nations with no proper of return.
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He instructed on Monday that, if crucial, he would withhold U.S. funding from Jordan and Egypt, longtime U.S. allies and among the many high recipients of its international assist, as a method of persuading them to just accept further Palestinians from Gaza.
“Yeah, perhaps. Certain, why not?” Mr. Trump instructed reporters. “If they do not, I might conceivably withhold assist, sure.”
Jordan is house to greater than 2 million Palestinians and, together with different Arab states, has flatly rejected Mr. Trump’s plan to relocate civilians from Gaza. Jordan’s international minister, Ayman Safadi, mentioned final week that his nation’s opposition to Mr. Trump’s thought was “agency and unwavering.”
Along with issues about jeopardizing the long-held objectives of a two-state answer to the Israeli-Palestinian battle, Egypt and Jordan have privately raised safety issues about welcoming massive numbers of further refugees into their international locations even quickly.
When requested how he’d persuade Abdullah to soak up Palestinians, Mr. Trump instructed reporters, “I do suppose he’ll take, and I feel different international locations will take additionally. They’ve good hearts.”
The king can also be assembly with high Trump administration officers throughout his go to, together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz, Center East envoy Steve Witkoff and Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, in addition to a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. He’s the third international chief to carry an in-person assembly with Mr. Trump since his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Mr. Trump introduced his concepts for resettling Palestinians from Gaza and taking possession of the territory for the U.S. throughout a press convention final week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He initially did not rule out deploying U.S. troops to assist safe Gaza however on the identical time insisted no U.S. funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of the territory, elevating basic questions in regards to the nature of his plan.
After Mr. Trump’s preliminary feedback, Rubio and White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that the president solely needed Palestinians relocated from Gaza “quickly” and sought an “interim” interval to permit for particles elimination, the disposal of unexploded ordnance and reconstruction.
However requested in an interview with Fox Information’ Bret Baier that aired Monday if Palestinians in Gaza would have a proper to return to the territory underneath his plan, he replied, “No, they would not.”
