Donald Trump has threatened to cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt should they refuse to accept Palestinians from Gaza.

The US president demanded the allies accept refugees to pave the way for a US-led redevelopment of the war-torn Gaza strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Jordan and Egypt, both recipients of significant US military and economic assistance, have so far rejected the suggestion that Palestinians could be relocated to their countries.

“If they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday evening.

The US president made the threat on the eve of what is likely to be a tense meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who has condemned any attempt to annex land or displace Palestinians.

The Jordanian monarch is expected to tell Mr Trump that his redevelopment plan would spur radicalism, spread chaos in the region and jeopardise peace with Israel.

About half of the kingdom’s population is estimated to have Palestinian roots dating back to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which has driven tensions over national identity.

Jordan and Egypt have long been cautious over accepting refugees, seeing the conflict as a veiled ploy by Israel to permanently expel Palestinians.

In the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, the latter insisted on a clause that guarded against the involuntary mass transfer of people that could “adversely prejudice the security” of either country.