The United States will increase aid to Jordan by more tan one billion dollars over the next five years, even though President Donald Trump said that he would no longer provide aid to countries that oppose U.S. policy in the Middle East, Newsweek reports.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Jordan this week and signed an aid package that included a 27 percent increase in aid compared to previous aid packages. According to Tillerson, the relationship between the two countries has never been stronger.
The increasing of the help for Jordan, a country that is an important ally to the States, is a triumph of Tillerson’s pragmatism over Trump’s instincts, experts say.
“President Trump generally isn’t one to reward his critics. But Jordan is vital to our counterterrorism efforts in the region. Thankfully, President Trump has recognized that now is not the time to play petty politics,” Chris Meserole, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, stated.
Not so long ago, Jordan’s King Abdullah II criticized Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but Jordan is one of only two Arab countries that maintain full diplomatic relations with Israel. King Abdullah is generally pro-Western.
Experts emphasize that Jordan’s military has played a key role in the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition and its intelligence services have produced some of the best intelligence on al-Qaeda. That’s why Jordan’s leadership is considered as a stabilizing force in a region where leaders are often wedged between Iran and the ambitions of Sunni extremists. Benjamin Radd, a Middle East expert at UCLA thinks that for the Trump administration, these factors make Jordan too important to fail or sanction.
“This is a striking example of diplomacy and realpolitik by the Trump administration. We’re not used to seeing this from them, and it’s a win for Tillerson and those in the State Department who favor engagement over isolationism,” Radd said.
Other experts have a different opinion and say that the move is another proof that Trump’s tough rhetoric is meaningless and disconnected from actual U.S. policy.
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