Key takeaways from the meeting with Trump and Jordan’s King Abdullah

The focus of the meeting was Trump’s plan that the US take over Gaza and Palestinians be displaced to Jordan and Egypt.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has become the first Arab leader to meet Donald Trump in the White House since the United States president’s second term began on January 20.

Tuesday’s sit-down with Trump, however, put Abdullah in a delicate situation.

While Jordan and the US have historically had strong ties, Trump has repeatedly pressured Abdullah and his government to accept displaced Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, where Israel has conducted a military assault since October 2023.

The US, meanwhile, has said it would “take over” and “own” a Gaza emptied of its residents, a proposal critics believe would amount to ethnic cleansing.

“It’s not a complex thing to do,” Trump said again on Tuesday. “With the United States being in control of that piece of land — that fairly large piece of land — you’re going to have stability in the Middle East for the first time.”