Donald Trump has said the US is “going to take” Gaza – while casting fresh doubt on the ceasefire in the Palestinian territory following a meeting with the king of Jordan at the White House. Listen to the latest Trump 100 as you scroll.
Wednesday 12 February 2025 00:13, UK
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We’re pausing our live coverage of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, but we’ll be back again tomorrow morning for all the latest.
If you’re just checking in, here is a recap of the key developments over the course of the day.
By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East Correspondent in Jerusalem
The Gaza ceasefire is now at real risk of collapsing. After Hamas’s threat last night to suspend further hostage releases, Benjamin Netanyahu has now raised the stakes.
This evening, following a meeting with his security cabinet in Jerusalem, he delivered an ultimatum to Hamas: return the hostages or the IDF will resume fighting.
Netanyahu is on a wave of confidence after his visit to Washington last week. He is daring Hamas to back down. If they don’t Gaza will be at war once again.
The images of three emaciated hostages released last Saturday has shocked Israel and some are blaming Netanyahu for not agreeing a ceasefire deal sooner. There were protests outside the PM’s residence in Jerusalem today.
It’s possible Hamas is aware of this and trying to exploit those divisions within Israel.
But even if he doesn’t have full support within Israel, Netanyahu knows that for now he has the full backing and protection of Donald Trump, and he is emboldened. The rest of the Middle East can only watch on.
By James Matthews, US correspondent
There was a time for telling Donald Trump to run along – a news conference in the Oval office wasn’t it.
Jordan’s King Abdullah respected the decorum of their joint appearance with a polite nod to the elephant in the room.
When he was asked about Trump’s plan for displaced Palestinians to be decanted into his country, the Jordanian leader didn’t say no but he didn’t say yes.
He threw Trump a bone by revealing Jordan would take 2,000 children suffering from cancer but was less forthcoming on the bigger question.
He spoke of working together with Egypt and the Saudis and stressed the involvement of the Arab collective.
He repeated it when he rejected the Trump plan – that came following the meeting, when he wrote on X of a “steadfast position” against the displacement of Palestinians.
“This is the unified Arab position,” he posted.
In the search for solutions in the Middle East, it was ‘thanks, but no thanks’ from the veteran to the ‘rookie’.
It leaves Jordan’s leader in something of a bind, as it does his Arab counterparts.
Sending Palestinians to Jordan or Egypt is a non-starter, they have made that clear.
For one thing, it would signal an end to the Palestinian cause.
Jordan has already accommodated tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees as a result of Middle east strife.
Taking in more risks modifying a country’s identity, tilting it towards a Palestinian state and inducing societal tensions.
Anti-Israeli sentiment would likely gain traction from a Palestinian influx into a country that shares a border with Israel.
It would risk increased vulnerabilities on the border and heighten the danger of instability.
Jordan is a friend to Israel and to the United States in terms of countering Iran.
America benefits from intelligence sharing from Jordan and US troops are also at a number of bases in the country.
It is a friend to the United States in a troubled region and, as such, King Abdullah has bargaining power in his relationship with Trump.
King Abdullah will hope it sees him through the early days of his relationship with Donald Trump. For the transactional president, he’s got something to sell. He will hope it buys him time, at least.
UN experts have condemned Donald Trump’s threat to take over Gaza and displace its population as having “devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally”.
The proposal would “shatter the most fundamental rules” of the international order embraced since the Second World War and “return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest”, read a statement by dozens of special rapporteurs and independent experts.
“Such blatant violations by a major power would break the global taboo on military aggression and embolden other predatory countries to seize foreign territories.”
It continued: “Just as over half a century of Israeli occupation of Palestine has not brought peace or security to Israel or Palestine, US occupation would be similarly ruinous and fuel perpetual war, death and destruction.”
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to continue downsizing the federal workforce.
Agencies will “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force and determine which agency components (or agencies themselves) may be eliminated or combined because their functions aren’t required by law”, according to the White House.
The agencies should “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart from federal service”.
There are plans for exceptions when it comes to immigration, law enforcement and public safety.
“The most awkward news conference starring the most awkward man, with his son picking his nose,” says US correspondent James Matthews, reacting to Elon Musk’s appearance in the Oval Office.
“A quite remarkable event. The president of the US justifying a full-scale assault on the federal government in the Oval office with Elon musk by his side.”
There was little in the way of accountability, Matthews says, even if the country did vote for Donald Trump.
“Nobody saw Elon Musk coming. Nobody saw the half dozen young men that have been sent into these federal agencies to sack people by the thousands.”
Musk’s description of bureaucracy as an unconstitutional branch of government is “a stretch to say the least”.
Over many years, the will of the people has been to construct a bureaucracy to deal with their interests, whether that’s social security payments or high finance, Matthews says.
At the same time, team Trump is attempting to “railroad” their legislation through the courts despite the objections of judges.
Answering questions in the Oval Office, Elon Musk is asked to respond to accusations he is orchestrating a “hostile takeover” of government in a non-transparent way.
The billionaire says the public voted for major government reform and they’re going to get what they voted for.
“That’s what democracy is all about,” he says.
A reporter asks what checks and balances are in place to ensure accountability for Musk, who is unelected.
“We are trying to be as transparent as possible,” he says.
“I don’t know of a case where an organisation has been more transparent.”
The reporter raises the possibility of conflicts of interest, pointing out Musk has received billions of dollars in federal contracts.
“All of our actions are fully public,” he says.
Musk says he “fully expects to be scrutinised”.
Elon Musk and his young son have joined Donald Trump in the Oval Office before Trump signs executive orders.
Trump begins by talking about weeding out “corruption” and says it “seems hard to believe that a judge could say we don’t want you to do that”.
“Maybe we have to look at the judges because I think it’s a very serious violation.”
He then asks Musk to speak.
Musk, who is unelected and runs an unofficial agency, says there are some good people in the federal bureaucracy but they need to be accountable, calling it an “unelected” fourth branch.
“If there’s not a good feedback loop from people to government and if the bureaucracy is in charge then what’s the meaning of democracy?” Musk says.
He says he wants to add “common sense controls” to government and that taxpayer dollars be spent wisely.
Musk and Trump’s gutting of the US Agency for International Development has left the US without the ability to oversee and track $8bn in unspent, taxpayer-funded aid.
Independent government watchdog OIG said mechanisms to stop some of the aid going to “terrorists and their supporters” have been crippled.
As has become an almost nightly occurrence, Donald Trump intends to sign yet another executive order today.
It will direct the heads of government agencies to coordinate with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to shrink their workforce, according to a White House official.
Hiring will be limited to essential positions, the order will say.
Concerns have been raised by politicians and federal employees about the level of access being given to DOGE employees.
Despite Donald Trump’s repeated claims to the contrary, Jordan’s King Abdullah has repeated his country’s opposition to the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
The US president has repeatedly said the people of Gaza should be moved to Arab countries including Jordan and Egypt, wrongly claiming that they do not want to return to Gaza.
The United Nations’ top investigator on human rights in Palestine has said Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza is illegal under international law and “amounts to ethnic cleansing”.
And while Trump and King Abdullah praised each other in a cordial news conference following their meeting at the White House, the monarch has now released a statement emphasising Jordan’s stance on the situation.
“I stressed that my foremost commitment is to Jordan, to its stability and to the well-being of Jordanians,” he said.
“I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”
He went on to stress the importance of the US to the maintenance of the ceasefire in Gaza, which both Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have cast doubt on.
“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability,” said King Abdullah.
This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds.
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