US President Donald Trump sent a message to the Jordanian people on Wednesday, via a video clip from the White House in Washington, DC, praising the generosity and intelligence of the Jordanians.

Trump said: "To the great people of Jordan, you are an amazing people with great intelligence, and you have a great king, a true leader, with a great heart, and he loves you very much, and he loves his country."

He added: "King Abdullah II is one of the greatest leaders in the world, and I tell you from the bottom of my heart, you are very lucky to have him among you."

Trump released the video amid widespread anger in Jordan over his plan to resettle Gaza residents, and what they saw as Trump's unbecoming reception of their king.

With both in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump, Jordan and Egypt are moving quickly — and with uncertain prospects for success — to dissuade him from forcing them to accept Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

For the two Arab governments, who view Trump’s proposal to take in 2 million Palestinians as an existential threat, the strategy appears to be to appease the US president with offers to work together to rebuild Gaza, bring peace to the region and expand humanitarian aid efforts. Analysts say that could buy them time — perhaps enough to get Trump to abandon the idea as too complicated, or to acknowledge the strategic and security downsides of destabilizing two of America’s closest allies in the region.

Jordan’s King Abdullah struck a conciliatory tone in his Oval Office meeting with Mr Trump on Tuesday, telling the US president that his country would take in 2,000 Palestinian children with cancer and other illnesses from Gaza. However, he made no concessions on the resettlement of more Gazans, and later reiterated Jordan’s rejection of the plan in a statement on social media.

Jordan has treated a number of cancer patients from Gaza since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, making the offer more symbolic than a real concession. But Trump described it as a "nice gesture."

Other world leaders have found that flattery of Trump helps them achieve their goals. King Abdullah appeared to follow suit on Tuesday, praising the president as “someone who can take us across the finish line to stability, peace and prosperity” in the Middle East.

While the king responded to Trump in the post to make clear that he rejects the mass and forced displacement of Palestinians, he indicated that the United States has a key role to play. “Achieving a just peace based on the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership,” he said in the post.

Egypt also said it wanted to work with Mr Trump “to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region by reaching a just settlement of the Palestinian issue,” according to an Egyptian statement issued later Tuesday.

But the Egyptian statement made no mention of participation in the Trump proposal, and reiterated Egypt’s position that peace can only be achieved by granting the Palestinians their own independent state. The Palestinians and many other Arabs have rejected Trump’s proposal for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza not only as ethnic cleansing, a war crime that contravenes international law, but also as a death knell for their long-held dream of a Palestinian state. Egypt has instead sought to offer an alternative to the Trump plan, saying in the statement that it would present “a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in a way that ensures the survival of the Palestinian people in their homeland.” The Palestinian Authority joined its own plan to help Gaza recover from the war on Wednesday.

In recent days, as concerns about the US president's idea have mounted, Egyptian officials have stressed that Egypt is prepared to help rebuild Gaza, with which it shares a vital border crossing, as it has done after previous conflicts there.

King Abdullah hinted several times during his meeting with Trump at the need to consult with Egypt and other Arab countries before responding to Mr. Trump’s proposal, pointing to an upcoming meeting in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Egypt has also called for a summit of Arab leaders to discuss the issue in Cairo on February 27.

Egyptian sources said that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will not travel to Washington to hold talks with his US counterpart Donald Trump if the agenda includes a plan to displace Palestinians.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that Cairo is determined to present a vision for the reconstruction of Gaza that guarantees the survival of the Palestinian people on their land. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed that ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and implementing the two-state solution is the path to stability in the region. It pointed out that Cairo is looking forward to cooperating with Washington for a just settlement of the Palestinian issue that takes into account the rights of the peoples of the region.

In a related matter, Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (R-Va.) confirmed on Wednesday that he had introduced a new bill titled The United States Will Not Control Gaza, criticizing President Donald Trump's plan.

The Democratic senator says in his bill that "the Palestinians have the right to self-determination, and that the occupation will lead to extremism, and there is no interest in a new war forever."

Tim Kaine pointed out that "it would be a big mistake for the United States to say that it will take it upon itself to do what Trump says regarding Gaza, and the purpose of the bill is to ensure that American money is not used to deport the people of the Gaza Strip or send American soldiers to Gaza."

He also stressed that "Gaza is an international issue that needs an international solution, and the United States should not suddenly say that it will solve it."

Senators Tim Kaine and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Derek Durbin (Illinois), Jon Ossoff (Georgia), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (Maryland), Raphael Warnock (Georgia), Peter Welch (Vermont), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), and Jeff Merkley (Massachusetts) participated.

“Despite the president’s inner circle’s attempts to walk back his comments, Donald Trump continues to move forward with his preposterous proposal to take control of Gaza, which would create further chaos in the region, undermine our national security, and likely violate international law,” Senator Tammy Duckworth warned.

“Any suggestion that the United States should take control of Gaza is outrageous,” Senator Durbin added. “We must continue to press for a renewed focus on the future, and Congress must continue to pressure the President.”

According to Newsweek, Democratic Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) said earlier that "after hearing Donald Trump's proposal regarding the Gaza Strip, I couldn't find the right words to express my opinion." The Democratic Senator described the plan as "crazy," while Democratic Party representatives described Trump as "losing his mind" after his statements regarding the United States' control over the Gaza Strip and the displacement of Palestinians to a new land.