Jordan's King After Trump Meeting: "Unwavering Opposition to Relocation of Gaza Residents"

Shared Details of the Summit on X
In Opening Remarks: "Will Accept 2,000 Sick Children from Gaza"

King Abdullah II of Jordan expressed his opposition to the idea of relocating residents of the Gaza Strip to Jordan or neighboring Arab countries after holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

King Abdullah II of Jordan (left) is holding a summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to the New York Times (NYT) and other sources on February 11 (local time), King Abdullah II stated on X (formerly Twitter) after his summit with President Trump at the White House, "I had a constructive meeting with President Trump," and added, "I reiterated Jordan's unwavering position against the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank."

He emphasized, "This is the unified stance of the Arab world," and added, "The priority for everyone should be rebuilding Gaza and addressing the dire humanitarian situation there, not expelling Palestinians." The NYT commented that King Abdullah II's remarks were a rejection of President Trump's proposal centered on relocating Gaza residents.

However, during his opening remarks at the meeting with President Trump, King Abdullah II said that Jordan could quickly bring in 2,000 children from Gaza who have cancer or are seriously ill, to which President Trump responded, "That's beautiful."

The NYT pointed out that King Abdullah II faces the difficult challenge of maintaining more than $1.5 billion (about 2.18 trillion won) in U.S. aid while also needing to resist demands to accept Gaza residents.

With more than half of Jordan's population of approximately 12 million being of Palestinian descent, cooperating with the relocation of Gaza residents-an idea opposed by Palestinians-could trigger political turmoil. Jordan is already home to about 700,000 refugees, including Syrians who fled the civil war.

President Trump recently suggested that if neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt do not cooperate in accepting residents from the Gaza Strip, U.S. aid could be withheld.