ANNAPOLIS–Gov. Wes Moore hosted the king of Jordan Wednesday for what he said was the first visit by a foreign head of state to the Maryland State House.
“This is a historic moment,” Moore said, “and, for one, we are truly, truly humbled.”
King Abdullah II echoed the sentiment in his own opening pleasantries, calling the meeting a “wonderful honor” and remarking that it was the first time he had ever had such a visit with a U.S. governor.
But though the excitement over the historic visit was palpable from both sides, it was not immediately clear why Abdullah’s annual visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York included a detour to Annapolis.
While Abdullah’s goal of delivering a speech in New York was well-defined, the purpose of his visit to Annapolis was decidedly less so. There were opening remarks — the only part of the proceedings open to the media — and a private roundtable that Abdullah said he saw as an “opportunity to look at some synergies.”
Though Abdullah’s official visit to Gov. Moore was a first of its kind, it may fit into a larger effort to expand Jordan’s diplomacy with the U.S. beyond Washington and into the states. Abdullah also met with the National Governors Association in July.
“The meetings are indeed unprecedented,” Yusuf Can, Middle East Program coordinator at the Wilson Center, said of Wednesday’s conversations. The meetings are “necessary and important,” Can said, and “part of the diplomacy-beyond-Washington idea of the royal family” that has become necessary with increasing turmoil in the Middle East.
While wider diplomacy has become more important to Jordan, Abdullah’s ties to Maryland run especially deep. His father King Hussein and Queen Noor owned property in Potomac that their estate later sold to Dan Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders, in 2001, according to the Washington Post. After building on the property and subsequently trying and failing to sell it, the Post reported, Snyder donated the home to the American Cancer Society in 2024.
A story in the Washington Business Journal places that property at 11900 River Road – an address that currently appears to be up for sale.
Back home in Jordan, Abdullah has been occupied with an increasingly volatile diplomatic landscape. His country shares a long border with Israel, a nation embroiled in conflict in Gaza.
In his address to the U.N. on Tuesday, Abdullah focused on the responsibility of the international community to protect the Palestinian people, denouncing an “absence of global accountability” for the suffering of civilians.
On Wednesday, though, the focus was on partnerships with Maryland businesses and institutions. The University System of Maryland’s Chancellor Jay Perman spoke about “potential partnerships with Jordan in the areas of renewable and clean energy and scarce water management,” according to Mike Lurie, a system spokesperson.
Other attendees invited to the meeting included leaders from Lockheed Martin, McCormick & Company, the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins, the governor’s office said.
The governor’s office did not immediately provide details of the meeting or go into any explanation of why a head of state might make such a visit. Moore is a rising figure in the Democratic Party and, potentially, in national politics, but neither of the men brought up political ambition in their public remarks.
Instead, in the exchange of pleasantries, Moore seemed hopeful that there might be some tangible benefit down the road.
“We just want to say we’re very happy to know that your family has a love of Maryland cuisine,” Moore told Abdullah, as reporters listened in.
“But we’re also (hoping) that this relationship goes well beyond the cuisine,” he said, “that this is the way to come together to talk about common goals, to talk about common interests and to talk about collaboration.”