Hamas has told Donald Trump his threats have “no value” after he warned the group of consequences if Israeli hostages are not released on Saturday. Meanwhile, Europe has said it will respond to his tariffs on steel and aluminium. Listen to the latest Trump 100 as you scroll.
Tuesday 11 February 2025 13:19, UK
By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem
For the fourth time in a row, King Abdullah will become the first Arab leader to meet with a new US president when he arrives at the White House later today.
This will be a far trickier meeting than previous occasions in Washington, however.
The long US-Jordan relationship benefits both countries: Amman receives around $2bn in aid each year and Washington in turn has a stable ally in the Middle East and a base for American forces to operate in the Levant.
The personal relationship is a little complicated – Jordan was not overly enthusiastic by the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term in office.
But the allegiance has survived and now faces its strongest test.
Trump has demanded that Jordan and Egypt take in many of the Palestinians living in Gaza, expressing confidence the two countries will agree despite immediate pushback, and threatening to withhold financial assistance if they don’t.
Depending on how you calculate it, there are around three million Palestinians living in Jordan today, almost a quarter of the population – some data puts the figure much higher.
If King Abdullah agreed to Trump’s request to receive Palestinians forcibly removed from Gaza, it could create considerable trouble back home.
There are also fears in Jordan that it would see Palestinians dominate domestic politics and Hamas, expelled from Gaza, might try to reform in the Hashemite Kingdom.
As the donor, Trump has the upper hand. Jordan would be hit hard by any reduction in assistance by Washington, especially sensitive at a time when there is growing instability in the West Bank and uncertainty over its northern border in Syria.
Jordan could threaten to end the peace treaty it has with Israel. It has stood the test of time, and wars, but the Abdullah Netanyahu relationship is difficult.
Key to the success, or failure, of the meeting is whether Abdullah presents Trump with a credible alternative to the US president’s plan to “own” Gaza, in particular a way of re-building the Strip without the need to evict all its residents.
Arab states have so far failed to unite and come up with a plan of their own for Gaza. Between them they could certainly fund the reconstruction and provide a multinational force to oversee security on an interim basis, but they are still pursuing guarantees of an independent Palestinian state and neither Netanyahu nor Trump will agree to that.
That might be a noble long-term goal but it doesn’t answer the immediate and enormous problems facing Gaza and its people.
King Abdullah doesn’t just have to focus on Gaza. Jordan has a unique ability to help reform the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and could make progress by strengthening Jordan’s own borders to prevent smuggling of weapons and drugs by Iran into the West Bank and Israel.
Trump hates the idea of foreign countries freeloading off America’s wealth and military power. Despite his dramatic and highly controversial vision for Gaza, which he has now repeated many times, he is perhaps still persuadable if he believes other countries are prepared to step up and pay for what needs doing.
If Abdullah is going to have any chance of softening Trump, then he will need to demonstrate Jordan, and others, are ready to do that.
We’ve had some reaction from No 10 on Trump’s latest tariffs.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said ministers would “work in the country’s best interests and support of the steel sector is resolute” when asked if the UK would introduce retaliatory tariffs.
They added that the UK would take a “considered approach”.
What does Trump’s steel tariff mean for the UK?
UK steel and aluminium producers are able to export tariff-free to the US up to specified volumes at present.
Trade body UK Steel says the tariffs would deliver a “devastating blow” to the industry.
“The US is our second-largest export market after the EU. At a time of shrinking demand and high costs, rising protectionism globally, particularly in the US, will stifle our exports and damage over £400m worth of the steel sector’s contribution to the UK’s balance of trade,” Gareth Stace, its director general, has said.
Data and economics editor Ed Conway is here with a detailed look at the aluminium and steel industries around the world – from which country produces the most (clue: it’s not America any more) to how Trump’s tariffs are likely to push up the prices in America.
He says there is “potential big inflation” in the US as a result of the tariffs on aluminium – with the prices from everything to planes to cans at risk of going up.
He also looks at how dependent the US is on imports of aluminium and steel, the role of China – and how the UK steel industry could be affected.
Watch Conway’s analysis here…
Unsurprisingly Donald Trump’s latest tariffs – on steel and aluminium – are causing concern among some of the US’s biggest trading partners around the world.
Among them is South Korea, the fourth-biggest exporter of steel to the US, behind Canada, Mexico and Brazil, according to American Iron and Steel Institute data.
Choi Sang-mok, the country’s acting president, said the government would seek talks with Trump’s administration on the tariffs.
Trump also said last night that he would give “great consideration” to a request from Australia for an exemption to the steel tariffs due to its trade deficit with the US.
While Donald Trump make waves with a black Sharpie in the Oval Office, JD Vance is on his first foreign visit as vice president.
He’s just addressed a high-stakes AI summit in Paris, criticising Europe’s tech regulations and warning leaders that excessive rules could strangle artificial intelligence.
“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry,” Vance said, declaring the US intends to remain the dominant force in AI.
“We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.”
European politicians last year approved the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive set of rules governing the technology. But some tech giants are pushing for it to be enforced leniently.
On his first full day back in the White House, Trump revoked a Biden executive order on addressing AI risks.
Donald Trump has toasted his executive order ending a US government effort to replace plastic straws with paper – with his favourite Diet Coke.
Signing the order in the Oval Office last night, he told reporters: “We’re going back to plastic straws.
“I don’t think plastic is going to affect a shark very much, as they’re munching their way through the ocean.”
Shortly after signing it, his official X account posted this…
Trump’s love of Diet Coke is well known – he drank it at his inauguration lunch, having been given a special-edition bottle by the boss of Coca-Cola.
And it’s been reported that he’s had a valet button reinstalled in the Oval Office that he used to order Diet Cokes during his previous presidency.
You can watch him sign the executive order here…
Two flights carrying Venezuelan migrants from the US back to Venezuela arrived last night in a victory for Donald Trump, who made a campaign promise to deport millions of undocumented migrants.
The US and Venezuelan governments confirmed the flights separately without saying how many people were aboard, with the White House posting on X: “Repatriation flights to Venezuela have resumed. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN.”
As part of his crackdown on immigration, Trump has also declared a national emergency on the US-Mexico border and said he planned to send US troops there.
These photos show the flights arriving at Simon Bolivar International airport near the capital Caracas.
Donald Trump has suggested that Ukraine could be Russian in the future – a statement that will set alarm bells ringing in Kyiv amid discussions over potential peace talks.
“They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday,” Trump told Fox News in an interview aired last night.
His comments come as Trump aides prepare to travel to Ukraine this week, while vice president JD Vance is set to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.
Speculation is mounting over when potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could begin – after Trump said he spoke to Vladimir Putin over the weekend and that “progress” had been made.
Follow all the latest developments and analysis of the Ukraine war on our live page here:
Ursula von der Leyen has added her voice to the criticism of Trump’s steel tariffs coming from Europe.
The president of the European Commission said she “deeply” regretted the decision and said the EU would act…
Her comments follow similar statements from the European Commission and from the French industry minister (see post at 7.11am).
Canadians “will stand up strongly and firmly” to Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, Justin Trudeau has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Paris artificial intelligence summit, the Canadian prime minister said the “unacceptable” tariffs would have a negative impact.
As we have been reporting this morning, the president announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports “without exceptions or exemptions” from 4 March.
Canada is the second-largest goods trader in the world after China and also accounted for more than 50% of aluminium imported into the US last year.
If the tariffs come into force, they are expected to have the most significant impact on Canada.
But Trump has argued that Canada sends more goods to the US than it imports – which is a trade deficit that has been an issue for Trump.
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