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SvennoJ on 11 February 2025
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West Bank annexation is ‘going to work out’: Trump

Asked about Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, Trump responded: “That’s going to work out.”

The comments came after a meeting with Jordan’s king at the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said since last week that he plans to forcibly displace the 2.3 million Palestinians of Gaza and redevelop the war-battered territory.


Trump-King Abdullah meeting: What was said?

US President Donald Trump has just received the first leader of a Middle Eastern country, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, since his return to the White House.

It was also the first visit since Trump announced a controversial plan to forcibly displace Palestinians in Gaza.

Here are the highlights of what was said by the two leaders:

  • Trump said Palestinians will live “beautifully and safely” in another location that is not Gaza.
  • There will be parcels of land in Jordan and Egypt where Palestinians will live, Trump said, adding he’s 99 percent sure he’ll “work out something with Egypt too”.
  • “We are not going to buy it [Gaza], we are going to have it, we are going to keep it, we’ll cherish it,” the US leader said.
  • King Abdullah said Arab states will come to the US with a plan, without explicitly supporting or opposing Trump’s Gaza takeover.
  • Asked about Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, Trump responded: “That’s going to work out.”
  • Jordan’s monarch said his country is ready to take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza.


Trump-Abdullah meeting: What was left unsaid

Let’s think about what wasn’t said in the meeting between US President Donald Trump and King Abdullah of Jordan.

Trump talked about how the people in Gaza have been living in hell and many of them have been dying every day. But what he didn’t say is the reason for that was the war launched by Israel more than 15 months ago, which cost the lives of more than 40,000 people in the Strip.

King Abdullah also did not say Trump’s plan was great or this is something they can work on. He said Arab countries are going to come forward with a plan and they will work with the US, but he didn’t say they would accept what the US proposed.

The Jordanian king is very smart and he knew he was not going to get on well if he was going to criticise Trump’s plan. What is also clear is Trump believes this is a real estate deal. The idea of a two-state solution no longer exists.

He feels that Gaza is a prime real estate to be developed and that international developers will come in and change the face of what many people have for centuries called home. Trump believes if you give Palestinians a few homes, jobs and offices, they will give up their birthright and their land.


US president walks back aid cut threat to Jordan, Egypt

Trump suggested he wouldn’t withhold US aid to Jordan or countries such as Egypt and other Arab nations if they don’t agree to dramatically increase the number of people from Gaza they take in.

“I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said. That contradicted the president’s previous suggestion holding back aid was a possibility.

Abdullah was asked repeatedly about Trump’s audacious plan to remake the Middle East, but didn’t make substantive comments on it nor the idea that his country could accept large numbers of new refugees from Gaza.

Trump also repeated suggestions the US could come to control Gaza but said it wouldn’t require committing funds and would somehow come to fruition. He added it would be possible “under US authority” – without elaborating what that actually was.

“We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it,” Trump said of US control in Gaza. He suggested the redeveloped area could have new hotels, office buildings and houses and “and we’ll make it exciting”.

“I can tell you about real estate. They’re going to be in love with it.”


Jordan’s king again rejects Trump’s Gaza plan

Abdullah says he has reiterated Jordan’s stance against displacing Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank during his meeting with Trump.

“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to the US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king said on X.