Jordan, a key US ally in the Middle East, is already home to millions of Palestinians.
While the King volunteered to accept up to 2,000 Palestinian children from Gaza in need of medical care, he stressed that rebuilding Gaza and addressing its humanitarian crisis should take precedence over relocation efforts.
But speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, with King Abdullah seated to his right, Trump signalled he would not shift on his idea which triggered global condemnation when he unveiled it last week.
“We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it,” he said of Gaza.
Trump claimed that “a lot of jobs” would be created across the region if a US takeover of the devastated territory were to happen.
“I think it could be a diamond,” he said, adding that he now believes the US is “above” having to threaten other countries to participate.
The King sat quietly next to Trump as the president repeated a proposal that would upend decades of established US policy and could amount to a breach of international law, which prohibits the forcible transfer of populations.
