President Trump said Monday he would consider withholding aid to Jordan and Egypt if they do not agree to take in Palestinians as part of a plan for the U.S. to take over and develop the Gaza Strip.
“Would you withhold aid to these countries if they don’t agree to take in the Palestinians?” Trump was asked during a gaggle with reporters in the Oval Office.
“Yeah, maybe. Sure, why not?” Trump responded. “If they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid. Yeah.”
Jordan and Egypt are among the top recipients of U.S. military assistance.
The U.S. and Jordan signed a memorandum in 2022 in which the U.S. committed to providing more than $1 billion annually in foreign assistance. The U.S. provided roughly $1.5 billion in foreign assistance to Egypt in fiscal 2023.
Trump last month called on Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from Gaza, much of which has been decimated by the war between Hamas and Israel that broke out in October 2023 after Hamas carried out an attack on Israel.
Since then, Trump has proposed that the United States could take control of the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into an economic development. While the White House has said Palestinians would be temporarily relocated while Gaza is rebuilt, Trump has repeatedly suggested Palestinians would have no desire to return to Gaza and floated the possibility of them not being allowed back.
“They would love to leave Gaza if they could find a place to be,” Trump said Monday.
Arab leaders in the region have said efforts to displace Palestinians or move them into neighboring countries are a nonstarter. Egypt and Jordan, countries with peace treaties with Israel, oppose absorbing Palestinians, claiming it poses a security risk, is destabilizing and threatens to provoke mass opposition.
Jordan already houses about 3 million Palestinians, many of whom already have been displaced by prior wars.
Trump is expected to meet with Jordan’s king in Washington on Tuesday, and the Gaza Strip and its future will likely be a key component of their discussions. King Abdullah II has already come out in opposition of taking in Palestinians from Gaza, as has Egypt.
Egypt announced Sunday it would host a summit of Arab nations on Feb. 27 to discuss the latest developments around the future of Palestinians, according to The Associated Press.
