Jordan wins exemption from Trump’s freeze on US aid

• Donald Trump is cutting foreign aid
• But support for Jordan has resumed
• King Abdullah visited White House

Millions of dollars in US grants for Jordan’s largest water desalination project dried up when President Donald Trump announced sweeping cuts to foreign aid in January.

Within two months, support was flowing again – a result of diplomacy that has arguably put the Middle Eastern state on a more solid financial footing than before January, according to more than 20 sources.

Jordan is among the largest recipients of US aid, receiving financing worth at least $1.45 billion a year. It has won assurances from Washington that the bulk of the funding remains intact, including military and direct budgetary support, the sources told Reuters.

Four of the sources said payments resumed in March to US engineer CDM Smith, which USAID has tasked with overseeing the $6 billion Aqaba-Amman water desali­na­tion and conveyance project.

Much of the United States’ $430 million annual assistance for development programmes remains frozen, hitting education and health projects, according to several sources. However, Molly Hickey, a Harvard researcher, said these areas were seen as less strategically important.

“Trump has protected funding considered critical to Jordan’s stability, namely defence, water and direct budget support,” said Hickey.

• Water projects take priority in Jordan’s public-private pipeline
• Jordan receives $130m from IMF
• EU’s $3bn to back Jordan’s economy

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that Jordan’s military aid was intact, calling the country a strong US partner.

The assurances to Jordan, extended during visits to Washington by King Abdullah and Jafar Hassan, the country’s prime minister, appear to mark a reversal of Trump’s earlier warning he could target Jordan’s aid if it did not agree to take in large numbers of refugees from Gaza.

In a private White House meeting in February, Trump assured King Abdullah that US aid would not be used as leverage for political concessions, officials told Reuters.

The State Department spokesperson declined to comment on “ongoing negotiations”. The White House said questions should be directed to State.

“We appreciate the US economic and financial support and will continue to engage in discussions that will benefit the economic sectors of both countries,” Mohammad al Momani, Jordan’s minister of state for communications, told Reuters.

The largest component of US aid to Jordan is some $850 million in direct budget support.

Five of the sources told Reuters that Washington has now assured Amman this year’s support, due in December and already factored into the $18 billion national budget, would not be touched.