Trump tells Jordanian King that US will 'take Gaza,' Palestinians will live safely elsewhere

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Tuesday that he would take in 2,000 Palestinian children from Gaza who are very sick or have cancer in response to a plan by President Donald Trump to resettle the residents of the war-torn strip.

Trump called the offer a “beautiful gesture” and said he believed “99%” that something could be worked out with Egypt, another regional partner that had bristled at the president's surprise plan. "We'll have some others helping," Trump added.
Seated with Trump in the Oval Office, Abdullah said they must ensure a plan that satisfies all parties, a not insignificant obstacle as questions remain about how each country might move to relocate a swell of people who have suffered months of devastation, and which some fear will further undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state. More than 1 million Palestinians remain without homes, and the king declined to say whether he would be willing to take in refugees in larger numbers. "We have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan," he said.

Questioned further by reporters about Trump’s ideas, the king said he would refrain from saying much until Egypt had a chance to weigh in.

There are already over 2 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which says that most of them have citizenship. Jordan's Queen Rania and her family were Palestinian refugees who fled Kuwait.

Trump’s proposal to “own” the Gaza Strip and relocate its residents has stirred opposition from the U.S.’s Arab partners and from world leaders across the globe who largely favor a two-state solution. However, Trump has not ceded the proposal and continued in the days since to press his ideas to take over and develop the territory after first announcing it last week during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House.

In an interview with Fox News that aired Monday night, Trump said that those leaving Gaza would not have a right to return and named Egypt and Jordan as two countries that he expects to take in Palestinians. Trump said it’s a project he wants to start “almost immediately.” He has referred to the territory as a demolition site.

On Tuesday, he billed it as a step toward bringing “peace to the Middle East” and said it would become a driver of new jobs in the region. “We’re going to run it very properly,” Trump told reporters and reiterated his ideas for a development plan for the territory that includes hotels and other investments. Seated to the president's left were top advisers and officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, chief of staff Susie Wiles and national security adviser Mike Waltz.

“It’s a death trap,” Trump said of Gaza as he mused about the possibilities. He said that it's a place where no one would want to stay, and “they are living in hell.”

Asked if he would consider withholding U.S. aid, Trump suggested he had moved on from the idea, telling reporters, “I do think we’re above that.”