Biden to host Jordan King on July 19

King Abdullah II will be the first Arab leader to visit the White House since Biden took office…reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden will host King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House on July 19, Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said.

“His Majesty’s visit will highlight the enduring and strategic partnership between the United States and Jordan, a key security partner and ally of the US,” Psaki said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It will be an opportunity to discuss the many challenges facing the Middle East and showcase Jordan’s leadership role in promoting peace and stability in the region,” she added.

King Abdullah II will be the first Arab leader to visit the White House since Biden took office. The Biden administration voiced support for his leadership during a royal rift in April.

Abdullah is on a three-week visit to the United States that will include Biden’s first meeting with an Arab leader at the White House since taking office, a July 1 statement from the palace said.

Abdullah strongly opposed former President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which he saw as a national security threat that would also undermine his Hashemite family’s custodianship of holy sites in Jerusalem.

Officials say the shift in policy under Biden towards a more traditional commitment to a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict has relieved pressure on Jordan, where a majority of the population of 10 million are Palestinians.

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