Trump: President Estates!

US President Donald Trump met Jordan’s King Abdullah II on February 11 at the White House. After having a brief round of talks the two leaders met the media. Trump’s responses to the media showed he is persisting with his idea of moving all the people of Gaza to locations in Jordan, Egypt and elsewhere. Thereafter the United States is to take over the territory and control it. Trump has not clarified in what capacity it would do so or what would be its legal status then. What the US President has reiterated a number of times is that a massive reconstruction effort will be undertaken in Gaza; earlier he had said that it could become the Riviera of the Middle East. His remarks, indicated that for Trump the Gaza strip is nothing more than a Gaza real estate site. Indeed, he boasted of his knowledge of real estate. All through the media interaction King Abdullah was very uneasy and did not endorse Trump’s proposal; nor did he repudiate it. What he did instead was to praise Trump’s endeavour to bring peace to the Middle East!

Trump’s remarks reveal his approach to people, land, sovereignty and West Asia. Their full flavour can only be appreciated if they are quoted in full. And, the way Abdullah navigated the session was a lesson in diplomacy even if he was squirming. Trump’s comments need to be studied especially by diplomats and political leaders for they have no alternative but to deal with him over the next four years.

Trump (on his idea for moving the people of Gaza and his plan); “With Egypt, I think you’re going to see some great progress. I think with Jordan, you’re going to see some great progress, three of us and we’ll have some others helping and we’re going to have some others that are very high level helping, and the whole thing will come. It’s not a complex thing to do. And with the United States being in control of that piece of land, a fairly large piece of land, you’re going to have stability in the Middle East for the first time. And the Palestinians, or the people that live now in Gaza will be living beautifully in another location. They’re going to be living safely. They’re not going to be killed and murdered and having to leave every 10 years, because I’ve been watching this for so many years. It’s nothing but trouble. Everyone is being killed. They’re being robbed. It’s like living in hell, and they’re going to end up having a great home, great families that don’t have to get mugged and killed and beaten up and harassed by Hamas and everybody else. And I know we’ll be able to work something”.

Trump (on what would be done in Gaza): “We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it and we’re going to keep it and we’re going to make sure that there’s going to be peace and there’s not going to be any problem. And nobody’s going to question it and we’re going to run it very properly. And eventually, we’ll have economic development at a very large scale, maybe the largest scale on that site. And we’ll have lots of good things built there, including hotels and office buildings and housing and other things. And we’ll make that site into what it should be.

And the people from Gaza who wouldn’t be able to be there for years because you’re talking about just to get it and prepare it and to take care of all of the problems that currently it has”.

Question to Trump and his answer: Mr. President, how do you know that the Palestinians don’t want to leave their land? Some people say this is ethnic cleansing. You won’t be able to force them to leave their land. Trump’s answer “We’re moving them to a beautiful location where they have new homes, where they can live safely, where they’ll have doctors and medical and all of those things. And I think it’s going to be great”.

Trump’s remarks reminded me of some Bollywood movies of the 1970s and 1980s in which unscrupulous builders paid gangsters to clear the shanties of the poor in a slum. The builders wanted to construct expensive housing and business complexes showing little concern for the poor. But the rhetoric of the builders with public was that the poor would be shifted to better locations where they would have facilities unavailable in their slums.

And how did Abdullah navigate? First came fulsome praise for Trump “Mr. President, I truly believe that with all the challenges that we have in the Middle East that I finally see somebody that can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace and prosperity to all of us in the region. And it is, I think, our collective responsibility in the Middle East to continue to work with you, to support you to achieve those lofty goals. So I’m very delighted to be here. And as you said, sir, we’ve got some very interesting discussions ahead of us”.

Then, Abdullah navigated thus “Well, Mr. President, I think we have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries. We’re being invited by Mohammed bin Salman to discussions in Riyadh. I think the point is, is how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody? And obviously we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, especially to my people of Jordan”.

All in all, Abdullah politely though indirectly contradicted Trump by pointing to the complexity of the issue while Trump said that shifting the Gazans is not a “complex thing to do”.

Naturally, the Israelis would have been delighted with Trump for they want Gaza without the people of Gaza.