Trump says a lot of progress made in Middle East
Speaking during joint press conference at the White House with Jordan's King Abdullah, US president declines to comment on when he intends to publish his peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians, but says 'His majesty’s knows a lot of progress has been made in the Middle East.'
Trump, during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, said things had improved since he pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. European allies opposed that move.
"His Majesty’s knows a lot of progress has been made in the Middle East, a lot," Trump said during a joint press conference at the White House with King Abdullah.
"It really started with the end of the horrible Iran deal. That deal was a disaster and things are a lot different since we ended that, a lot different," he said.
Abdullah was accompanied by his wife, Queen Rania. While the leaders met, first lady Melania Trump and the queen planned to catch up over afternoon tea in the Green Room of the White House.
Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor Jared Kushner and the US special Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt met with King Abdullah last Tuesday to discuss the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and a number of other regional developments.
According to the Jordanian Petra news agency, the meeting, which was held at the Al Husseiniya Palace in the capital, dealt with, among other thins, strategic ties between the two countries and coordination between them in a host of fields.
“His Majesty stressed the need to reach just and comprehensive peace in the region that enables the Palestinian people to fulfil their legitimate aspirations to establish an independent Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the Petra news agency said.
“The King underlined the importance of breaking the stalemate in the peace process to relaunch serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations based on the two-state solution, the Arab Peace Initiative, international law, and relevant UN resolutions,” the statement continued. “His Majesty also noted the important role of the United States in this regard.”
The King reaffirmed, it added, “that the subject of Jerusalem must be settled as part of final status issues, as the holy city is key to achieving peace in the region.”