
Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan were welcomed to the White House yesterday by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for an expanded bilateral meeting. This was their second visit to the White House while Trump has been in office.
First on the agenda was a meeting in the Oval Office, which took place with the Queen and First Lady. Later, the King and President held the bilateral meeting which was attended by senior officials on both sides while the Queen and First Lady held separate talks in a different area of the White House.
According to the Royal Hashemite Court’s press release, the discussions “covered the economic and financial challenges Jordan is facing—which are caused by regional crises—and the reforms and economic programmes the Kingdom is undertaking to overcome these challenges.”
Additionally, the leaders “also covered overall conditions in the region, as well as regional and international efforts to fight terrorism within a holistic approach.”
President Trump spoke first telling the media, “It is a great honour to have the King and Queen of Jordan with us. They’re friends, we’ve known each other now for quite a while, long before this. But you have done an incredible job on the refugees and the camps and taking care of people.”
“Our nations have a very good relationship… The job you do on the humanitarian basis is fantastic, and I would like to thank you very much.”
After opening remarks by President Trump, His Majesty said, “Thank you. And if, sir, I could thank you and the United States and the people of America for all the support you’ve given our country. If the rest of the world just took a little bit of your humility and your grace to help us, we’d be in a lot better position.
“But if it wasn’t for the United States — just on behalf of myself and my people, thank you so much for all that you’ve done.”
The President confirmed the continued support from the United States for Jordan which included financial support.
After the visit, the First Lady tweeted, “A great visit with the King & Queen of Jordan. @POTUS & I were glad to welcome them back to the @Whitehouse. @QueenRania & I shared an open & productive discussion about the many issues our countries are challenged with today.”