President Trump praised what he called a "beautiful gesture" from Jordan's King Abdullah II after their meeting at the White House Tuesday. The king said Jordan would take in around 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza, including many with cancer, though he declined to say whether his country would be willing to take in more people from the territory, NBC News reports. The BBC reports that the king "sat quietly next to Trump" as the president doubled down on his widely condemned proposal for the US to take control of Gaza and resettle its people in Jordan and Egypt. "We're going to take it. We're going to hold it. We're going to cherish it," he said.
Asked by a reporter about the proposal, the king said, "Let's wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves." Trump said he was " 99% sure" he could work out a deal with Egypt. The president said the US wouldn't need to "buy" Gaza, the New York Times reports. "There's nothing to buy," he said. "We will have Gaza. It's a war-torn area. We're going to take it." Asked about his recent suggestion that aid could be withheld from Egypt and Jordan if they didn't go along with the plan, Trump said, "I do think we're above that," adding, "We contribute a lot of money to Jordan and to Egypt, by the way, a lot to both, but I don't have to threaten that."
In a statement after the meeting, the king said it had been "constructive," the Guardian reports. "I reiterated Jordan's steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position," he said. "Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all." The king praised Trump as "a man of peace" who "was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire." (More Jordan stories.)
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