President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued pressing his plan for the United States to take ownership of of the Gaza Strip and displace the 2.1 million Palestinians living there into neighboring countries as he met with the leader of one of America’s closest Middle East allies, King Abdullah II of Jordan.
As the two leaders met in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that the U.S. would not endeavor to purchase Gaza, despite statements made in the last few days in which he’d suggested that some sort of monetary transaction would allow for America to lay claim to the war-torn territory.
“We’re going to have Gaza. We don’t have to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza,” he said when asked about his prior statement about purchasing the long-occupied piece of land.
“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,” he added.
Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt could absorb Gaza’s population — something both governments have rejected — said the Palestinians living there would be happy to leave because they are currently “living a terrible life” after more than a year of war following the October 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas.
“Look at the way they’re living now. Nobody’s nobody’s living like that in the entire world. They’re living under buildings that are mostly fallen down and will continue to fall down, and they’re living under people are being killed every day. The conditions are horrible. There are no conditions anywhere in the world that are worse than the Gaza Strip,” he said.
For his part, Abdullah did not openly contradict Trump when asked about the president’s plan. His government is a significant recipient of American aid and it oversees a population that is roughly half Palestinian in origin, many of whom have lived in Jordan for a half-century.
He told reporters that Trump plans to bring Arab leaders to the White House to discuss his plan. Further discussions will also take place in Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks, he added.
“We will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the President and with the United States. So I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the President and not get ahead of us,” he said.
Pressed further on whether he’d accept more Palestinian refugees within his borders, Abdullah demurred, telling reporters he has to look at what is in his country’s best interests, though he did say he would be admitting 2,000 Palestinian children into Jordan to receive medical treatment.
