Trump and Jordan will clash over the Gaza plan

Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Gaza’s population to Jordan is expected to face stern opposition from Jordan’s King Abdullah during their White House meeting today—their first face-to-face encounter since the controversial plan was announced.

Jordan, a key US ally, now finds itself balancing its strong military and diplomatic ties with significant domestic sympathy for the Palestinians. These internal divisions, already strained by the recent Gaza War, are being pushed to a breaking point by Trump’s latest vision for Gaza’s future.

Trump has doubled down on his demand that Gazans be moved to Jordan and Egypt, telling a Fox News anchor that they would lose their right to return home—a proposal that would breach international law if implemented. On Monday, he even suggested he might withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt unless they accepted Palestinian refugees.

Some of the most vocal opponents of relocating Gazans are those who have lived in Jordan for decades. Approximately 45,000 people reside in the Gaza Camp near Jerash, one of several refugee camps in the country. In these cramped conditions, makeshift shelters of corrugated iron line narrow shop doorways, while children navigate busy market streets on donkeys.

Residents of the camp, whose families originally fled from Gaza—specifically from areas like Jabalia, Rafah, and Beit Hanoun—after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, have been living in Jordan for generations. “Donald Trump is an arrogant narcissist,” 60-year-old Maher Azazi says. “He has a medieval, tradesman mentality.” Azazi, who left Jabalia as a toddler, recalled that some of his relatives still in Gaza are now combing through the ruins of their former homes in search of 18 missing family members.

Despite the ongoing devastation in Gaza, many in Jordan now say they would rather risk everything than leave. “We would rather jump into the sea than leave,” declares Yousef, a lifelong resident of the camp. For those who once viewed leaving as a temporary refuge, the prospect now seems to play into the hands of Israel’s far-right nationalists seeking to claim Palestinian land. “We Gazans have been through this before,” one resident explains. “Back then, they promised our stay would be temporary and that we’d return home. The right to return is a red line.”

Jordan has long been a sanctuary for refugees, having welcomed Iraqis fleeing conflict in the early 2000s and Syrians a decade later—a surge that led King Abdullah to warn that his country was nearing its limit. Many native Jordanians blame these successive waves for soaring unemployment and rising poverty. At a food bank in central Amman, where 1,000 meals are distributed daily, day labourers Imad Abdallah and Hassan lament that prolonged joblessness is taking a toll on their families. “The situation in Jordan was good until the Iraq war, then the Syrian conflict hit, and now the war in Gaza has made things much worse,” Hassan says. Imad adds bluntly, “Foreigners take our jobs. I’ve been out of work for four months with no money or food. If more Gazans come, we will be in deep trouble.”

Meanwhile, Jordan is under increasing pressure from its crucial military ally. Trump has already suspended more than $1.5 billion in annual US aid to Jordan, and many locals fear a growing rift between Trump and Jordanian political leaders, who are pushing back against his proposals. Former deputy prime minister Jawad Anani, closely aligned with the Jordanian government, warned that King Abdullah’s message to Trump will be unmistakable: “We consider any attempt by Israel or others to forcibly displace people from their homes in Gaza and the West Bank as criminal. But any effort to push those people into Jordan would be tantamount to declaring war.”

Even if Gazans were willing to relocate on a temporary basis as part of a broader Middle East strategy, trust is severely lacking. “There is no confidence,” Anani states. “As long as Netanyahu and his government are involved, there is no trust in any promises made. Period.”

Trump’s insistence on imposing his vision for Gaza may force Jordan, a pivotal US ally, into a difficult choice. Just last Friday, thousands in Jordan took to the streets in protest against his proposal.

Jordan, which hosts US military bases and millions of refugees, is a linchpin of regional stability and key to Israel’s security, particularly regarding concerns over smuggling routes into the occupied West Bank. Any instability in Jordan poses significant risks to its allies. While the country’s stability has long been its strength, the threat of unrest now stands as its greatest challenge and most formidable defense.