Abdullah says Jordan will take in 2,000 sick Gazan kids as Trump pushes relocation plan
US president calls king’s pledge ‘music to his ears’; wants ‘parcel of land’ in Jordan and Egypt for Gazans; doesn’t believe Hamas will release all hostages by his Saturday deadline
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — Sitting alongside Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah announced that Amman would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza, seeking to curry favor with a US president who had threatened to withhold aid if Jordan did not agree to take in Palestinians as part of his plan for Washington to take over the enclave and relocate its population.
The figure proposed by Abdullah amounts to roughly 0.1% of the Gaza Strip’s population, but Trump was delighted nonetheless.
“That’s so beautiful. It’s music to my ears,” said the US president.
Trump’s plan to take over Gaza has alarmed the Arab world, particularly Jordan and Egypt, which the president has singled out as primary candidates to host relocated Palestinians. Cairo and Amman have rejected Trump’s proposal outright, viewing the arrival of so many Gazans as a security threat and arguing it would expand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into their borders.
Both countries have sought to push back on the plan without entirely burning their bridges with Trump, who appears to be at the apex of his power after Republicans won the White House and full control of Congress in the November 2024 US elections.
As they took questions from reporters between their one-on-one meeting and a subsequent sit-down with their advisers, Trump claimed there would likely be a “parcel of land” in Jordan and Egypt where the Palestinians would be housed.
Asked whether he approved of this idea, a visibly uncomfortable Abdullah responded, “I have to look at the best interests of my country.” The king repeatedly dodged questions from reporters about the US proposal.
Trump has stood by his Gaza plan, though his aides said last week that Washington was prepared to hear other ideas for rebuilding the Strip and expected Arab allies to come forward with their own proposals, rather than just rejecting the one from the US.
In his opening remarks to reporters, Abdullah said the Arab world was working on putting together such a plan and that Egypt was leading the effort.
Later Tuesday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced that it plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
Egypt “hopes to cooperate” with the Trump administration “to reach comprehensive and just peace in the region,” the statement said.
Abdullah noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has also invited Arab counterparts to discuss the matter in Riyadh.
Trump then claimed to largely know what the Arab plan will be. “It’s going to be… magnificent for the Palestinians. They’re going to be in love with it. I did very well with real estate. I can tell you about real estate.”
In the meantime, the Jordanian monarch said his country was prepared to “take 2,000 children [who] either [have] cancer or are in a very ill state to Jordan as quickly as possible.”
The king said that the Jordanian initiative will require cooperation from COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The best way to get [them out of Gaza] is by helicopters to get them straight to our institutions,” he said. “Quite a few countries will also probably like to take some of those kids and have them treated in their hospitals.”
Abdullah also made a point in his opening remarks to lavish praise on Trump.
“With all the challenges that 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,” he said.
2 million people ‘a very small number of people’
Trump repeatedly dismissed claims that his Gaza plan amounts to ethnic cleansing, insisting that Palestinians want to leave.
“We’re moving them to a beautiful location where they’ll have new homes, where they can live safely, where they have doctors and medical and all of those things. It’s going to be great,” Trump told reporters.
Pressed on how he can simply relocate 2 million people, Trump responded, “It’s a very small number of people relative to other things that have taken place over the decades and centuries.”
Asked if he’ll force Palestinians out if they don’t want to leave Gaza, Trump replied, “They’re going to be very happy.”
“No place in the world is as dangerous as the Gaza Strip. They don’t want to be there. They have no alternative,” the US president said.
Despite claiming that the US will own the Strip, Trump asserted that Washington won’t have to pay for it. “We’re not going to buy anything. 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 nobody’s going to question it.”
Asked where he wants Palestinians to live, Trump responded, “It’s not about where I want them to live. It’s going to be where we ultimately choose as a group.”
Trump then walked back his Monday threat to withhold aid from Egypt and Jordan if they don’t agree to take in Palestinians.
“I don’t want to [threaten] that because we’ve had such a good relationship and we’re doing so well just in the short time that we’ve been talking,” he said.
“The king just made a statement — I didn’t ask him to do that — about literally saving 2,000 young children from the Gaza Strip,” Trump noted. “We do contribute a lot of money to Jordan and to Egypt… But I don’t have to threaten that. We’re above that.”
Asked if he’d consider other countries for housing Gazans, Trump said he would, claiming that lots of nations “want to get involved.”
Trump slams Hamas ‘bullies,’ says annexation for another day
Trump was also asked about the 12 p.m. Saturday deadline he set a day earlier for Hamas to release all remaining Israeli hostages, and he said he didn’t expect Hamas to meet it.
“They want to play tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are,” Trump said. “Hamas is bullies. The weakest people are bullies.”
Asked whether he’ll back Israeli annexation of the West Bank, Trump responded, “That’s going to work out very well… work out automatically.”
“That’s not really what we’re talking about today,” he said.
Last week, Trump said he’d be making an announcement regarding Israeli annexation of the West Bank in about four weeks.
“It’s in good shape,” Trump said Tuesday.
“We discussed it, other people have discussed it with us and with me,” he continued. “The West Bank is going to work out very well.”
‘A man of peace’
After the meeting, Abdullah tweeted that his talks with Trump were “constructive,” but said he used the meeting to reiterate “Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
“This is the unified Arab position,” he added. “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”
Still, Abdullah called Trump “a man of peace,” praising him for ushering in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal last month. “We look to the US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds.”
Abdullah said he also emphasized to Trump the importance of working toward a de-escalation of tensions in the West Bank.
