Jordan's King Abdullah set for tense meeting with Donald Trump
Donald Trump and Jordan's King Abdullah II are set to have a tense meeting at the White House on Tuesday, as the US president continues to insist that the Hashemite kingdom must accept forcibly ejected Palestinians as part of Trump's plans to "own" Gaza.
Last week, Trump doubled down on plans to forcibly expel Palestinians from the enclave and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", with the US taking over the territory and owning it.
He has repeatedly stated that Jordan and Egypt will take in Palestinians from Gaza - an idea that Amman and Cairo have flatly rejected.
On Friday, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets in Amman to protest against Trump's plans.
On Monday, the president suggested that he could deny aid to Jordan and Egypt if they didn't accept his proposal.
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“If they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid,” he said, ahead of the meeting with King Abdullah.
Jordan receives $1.45bn a year in US aid, which plays a key role in funding development programmes in the country. But Jordanian officials have told Middle East Eye the country is prepared to go without it.
"American aid is important and necessary for the budget, constituting 10 percent of the state's budget, but if it is linked to the issue of relocation, we will not hesitate to forgo it," an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Last week, well-placed sources in Amman and Jerusalem told MEE that Jordan was ready to declare war on Israel in the event that Palestinians were forcibly expelled into its territory. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi confirmed that view two days later.
Jordan is a key ally of Washington in the region: at least 3,000 American troops are stationed at US bases, where they work with Jordanian armed forces on counterterrorism operations.
A defence pact signed between the countries in January 2021 provides exclusive bases to US forces, including 15 undisclosed sites.
Amman also has ties with Israel, having signed the 1994 Wadi Araba Treaty, which established diplomatic, tourism and trade relations between the two countries.
Jordan received billions of dollars of US aid in return.
Over half of Jordan's population is of Palestinian descent, most of whom are refugees displaced during the 1948 Nakba and 1967 war.
Some of those refugees already know what it is like to be displaced from Gaza. The Jerash camp in northern Jordan, locally known as the Gaza camp, hosts thousands displaced from Gaza in the 1967 war.
'They have good hearts'
A source told MEE last week that Trump's plans were an "existential issue" for Jordan and the Hashemite kingdom, a cash-strapped country which would be unable to accommodate an inflow of refugees.
The country already has a delicate relationship with its Palestinian refugees, and is wary of civil strife. Memories are still fresh of Black September in 1970, when the Hashemites brutally crushed Palestinian factions which it feared were attempting to take over the state.
"Jordan is not a banana republic for Trump to impose the acceptance of millions of refugees on us," Omar al-Ayasrah, a Jordanian senator, told MEE.
"Now, the king will draw bright red lines during his upcoming visit to the White House, including rejecting any relocation, as it constitutes political suicide for the Jordanian state."
Trump insisted on Monday that he believed King Abdullah would take in Palestinians.
"I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also," Trump said. "They have good hearts."
Despite some of his officials walking back the proposals, and stating that the displacement of Palestinians would be temporary, the US president says it will be permament.
Asked if Palestinians would return to Gaza on Fox News on Monday, Trump said: "No they wouldn't. Because they will have much better housing. Much better - in other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them."
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