DORAL, Fla. (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump鈥檚 push to have Egypt and Jordan take in large numbers of Palestinian refugees from besieged Gaza fell flat with those countries' governments and left a key congressional ally in Washington perplexed on Sunday.
Fighting that broke out in the territory after ruling Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 is paused due to a , but much of Gaza鈥檚 population has been left largely homeless by an Israeli . Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One that moving some 1.5 million people away from Gaza might mean that "we just clean out that whole thing.鈥
Trump relayed what he told Jordan鈥檚 King Abdullah when the two held a call earlier Saturday: 鈥淚 said to him, 鈥業鈥檇 love for you to take on more because I鈥檓 looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it鈥檚 a mess.鈥欌
He said he was making a similar appeal to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi during a conversation they were having while Trump was at his Doral resort in Florida on Sunday. Trump said he would 鈥渓ike Egypt to take people and I鈥檇 like Jordan to take people.鈥
Egypt and Jordan, along with the Palestinians, worry that Israel would never allow them to return to Gaza once they have left. Both Egypt and Jordan also have perpetually struggling economies and their governments, as well as those of other Arab states, fear massive destabilization of their own countries and the region from any such influx of refugees.
Jordan already is home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees. Egypt has warned of the security implications of transferring large numbers of Palestinians to Egypt鈥檚 Sinai Peninsula, bordering Gaza.
Trump suggested that resettling most of Gaza鈥檚 population of 2.3 million could be temporary or long term.
Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said Sunday that his country's opposition to what Trump floated was 鈥渇irm and unwavering.鈥 Some Israel officials had raised the idea early in the war.
Egypt's foreign minister issued a statement saying that the temporary or long-term transfer of Palestinians 鈥渞isks expanding the conflict in the region.鈥
Trump does have leverage to wield over Jordan, which is a debt-strapped, but strategically important, U.S. ally and is heavily dependent on foreign aid. The U.S. is historically the single-largest provider of that aid, including more than $1.6 billion through the State Department in 2023.
Much of that comes as support for Jordan鈥檚 security forces and direct budget support.
Jordan in return has been a vital regional partner to the U.S. in trying to help keep the region stable. Jordan hosts some 3,000 U.S. troops. Yet, on Friday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio exempted security assistance to Israel and Egypt but not to Jordan, when he laid out the details of a freeze on foreign assistance that Trump ordered on his first day in office.
Meantime, in the United States, even Trump loyalists tried to make sense of his words.
鈥淚 really don't know,'' said Sen. Lindsey Graham, when asked on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥 about what Trump meant by the 鈥漜lean out" remark. Graham, who is close to Trump, said the suggestion was not feasible.
鈥淭he idea that all the Palestinians are going to leave and go somewhere else, I don鈥檛 see that to be overly practical,鈥 said Graham, R-S.C. He said Trump should keep talking to Mideast leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and officials in the United Arab Emirates.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what he鈥檚 talking about. But go talk to MBS, go talk to UAE, go talk to Egypt,鈥 Graham said. 鈥淲hat is their plan for the Palestinians? Do they want them all to leave?鈥
Trump, a , also announced Saturday that he had directed the U.S. to release a supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. Former President had imposed a hold due to concerns about their effects on Gaza's civilian population.
Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War. They fear that the permanent displacement of Gaza鈥檚 population could make that impossible.
In making his case for such a massive population shift, Trump said Gaza is 鈥渓iterally a demolition site right now.鈥
鈥淚鈥檇 rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location," he said of people displaced in Gaza. "Where they can maybe live in peace for a change.鈥
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Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.
