Jordan was among the few countries in the region relieved by the outcome of the US presidential election. Until Nov. 3, Amman was preparing for a second Donald Trump administration, and the feeling here was that the kingdom — which relies heavily on US aid and military support — would come under tremendous pressure to conform with Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East, which he revealed in January. King Abdullah II had ignored the plan and continued to insist that peace between Israel and the Palestinians must be based on the classic two-state solution, which the Trump administration had clearly sidestepped.

Along with the Palestinians themselves, Jordan had much to lose from the Trump peace plan, which came in the wake of a number of steps that Trump had taken since he assumed office, including the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, defunding of the UNRWA, recognition of illegal settlements, and encouraging normalization between Arab states and Israel before resolving the latter’s conflict with the Palestinians contrary to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

In fact, Jordan was taken aback by the decision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel, under US auspices, which led to the signing of the so-called Abraham Accords at the White House in September. Abdullah maintains good working relationships with the leaders of both countries, and Amman was careful not to criticize the two Gulf countries for breaking ranks. 

Battling the COVID-19 pandemic and a deteriorating economy had stretched the kingdom’s resources and its ability to withstand US pressure. Ever since Abdullah objected to Trump’s moves on Jerusalem and ignored the president’s peace plan, relations between the two had clearly become tepid. They had not met in over two years, and it is no secret that the president’s son-in-law and architect of the peace plan, Jared Kushner, is no fan of Jordan and its insistence on the two-state solution.