Trump calls on Egypt, Jordan to accept more Palestinian refugees: 'Clean the whole thing up'
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he hoped Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries would accept more Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip, potentially moving enough people to “clean up” the area destroyed in the Israel-Hamamas war ceasefire.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah II earlier in the day and would meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ) gave a speech.
“I hope Egypt brings people,” Trump said. “You're talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean up the whole thing and say, 'You know, it's over.'”
Trump said he praised Jordan for accepting Palestinian refugees but told the king: “I'd love for you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it's a real mess. It's a real mess.”
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Ship One as he travels from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday, January 25, 2025. (AP)
Such dramatic displacement would contradict Palestinian identity and deep ties to Gaza.
Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash wrote on “The idea that they are some kind of spillover event from the rest of the so-called Arab world (they are just interchangeable with other “Arabs”) is a false but often employed rhetorical device to eliminate their presence in the land history. “
“They are descendants of the Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians and other ancient Levantine peoples,” says the liberal. “Their ancestry overlaps with that of their Jewish neighbors, but they are Christian, Islamic and converts from other religions.
But Trump said the part of the world that encompasses Gaza has “had many, many conflicts” over the centuries and that resettlement could be temporary or long-term. “
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Ship One as he travels from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday, January 25, 2025. (AP)
“Something has to happen,” Trump said. “But this is literally a demolition site. Almost everything was demolished and people died there. Make changes.”
A senior Israeli official said, according to Israel's Channel 12, “Trump's statements about the movement of Gazans to Muslim countries were not a slip of the tongue but part of a broader move coordinated with Israel.”
On Monday, Trump suggested Gaza “really has to be built back differently” after he took office.
“Gaza is fun,” he added. “It's an amazing place, being on the ocean. The best weather, you know, everything is great. Like, it could be done with some beautiful things, but it's fun ”
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Ship One as he travels from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday, January 25, 2025. (AP)
Trump also said Saturday he was ending former President Joe Biden's hold on sending a 2,000-pound bomb to Israel in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. A ceasefire has been in place for a week during the Israel-Hamas war.
“We released them today,” Trump said of the bombs. “They've been waiting a long time.” Trump said he lifted the ban on bombs “because they bought them.”
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Biden halted bomb deliveries in May to prevent a full-scale Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
up to 15 months Gaza war It began with Hamas launching a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, prompting military retaliation by Israeli forces. In Gaza, nearly 100 hostages remain captive.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.