This week, we got an early glimpse of how President Trump will approach the U.S. relationship with Israel during his second term. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the start of the new administration, which in itself carried great symbolic significance. But Trump followed up the symbolism with substantive moves that conveyed the common interests of the two allies.
On Tuesday, before welcoming Netanyahu, Trump signed an executive order that brought back his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting Iran. During his first term, he imposed crippling sanctions on the Islamist regime, which starved the mullahs of resources, making it harder for them to finance terrorist proxies led by Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration shifted to a policy of minimum pressure, unraveling carefully deployed sanctions that provided a lifeline to Iran in hopes of reviving Barack Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal. The result was more aggression from Iran and its terrorist network.
Trump also made clear that he would never permit Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. During the campaign, he said he supported Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. He did not reiterate that position this week, but did not rule it out, either. In a Truth Social post, he indicated that he was open to negotiating a deal with Iran that involved real verification of its nuclear program. “Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” he wrote. But there are plenty of military actions that fall short of completely leveling the country.
In addition to Iran, Trump signed an order saying that the U.S. would no longer participate in the United Nations Human Rights Council and that it would pull funding from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), noting that they have abandoned the founding mission of the U.N. “and instead act contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating anti-Semitism.” UNRWA was specifically cited for the involvement of some employees in the October 7 massacres.
While it is still unclear whether Trump will exert pressure on Netanyahu to agree to future phases of the cease-fire deal with Hamas that could eventually bring home all the hostages and end the war, at least in a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump was noncommittal. Netanyahu outlined three Israeli goals for any final deal: “destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, secure the release of all of our hostages, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.” Trump did nothing to undercut him and said he was unsure if future phases of the deal would get secured.
The biggest news Trump dropped was his two-part vision for post-war Gaza. He reiterated that he supports relocating the roughly 2 million Gazans to new communities in other countries with funds and land to be provided by wealthy nations. Then, he said the U.S. would claim ownership of Gaza and partake in a massive construction project to clear out the debris and rebuild the decimated strip of coastal land into “the Riviera of the Middle East” — deploying U.S. troops there, if necessary.
To put it plainly, the plan is not going to happen. While some might be open to leaving for greener pastures, plenty of Palestinians view Gaza as their home, and those supportive of terrorism aren’t ready to abandon the dream of using it as a base to destroy Israel. Even if there were a willing population, other regional leaders, with their own stability concerns, will have no interest in importing a large underclass population with plenty of terrorists among them. Jordan’s King Abdullah II (whose father came dangerously close to being overthrown by relocated Palestinian forces in 1970-71) is about as eager to welcome a flood of Gazan exiles as Trump is to shelter Venezuelan migrant gang members at Mar-a-Lago.
Even if part one of this vision were to somehow materialize, there would be little appetite to risk American blood and treasure to undertake a massive rebuilding effort in one of the most volatile stretches of land in the world.
Trump’s supporters portrayed the announcement as an example of Trump thinking outside the box and rejecting failed dogmas of the past, such as the chimeric “two-state solution.” The optimists’ case would be that Trump is simply stirring up the pot, freaking out all the power players in the Middle East, to open up a range of possibilities that may have otherwise been out of reach.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu had an additional meeting with Pete Hegseth, in which the newly sworn-in secretary of defense thanked Israel for eliminating Hezbollah leaders, particularly one who played a role in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut. He also noted that Trump had lifted the pause on certain weapons that had been put in place under Joe Biden and said that the administration was committed to keep supplying them.
During the Biden administration, when Netanyahu visited, he was subjected to constant lectures and threats over the Israeli conduct of its existential war. The prime minister will no doubt be resting a lot easier on his flight home this time.