President Trump said there is “no rush” on his plan to own Gaza, but maintained that the plan is “well received.”

During a White House meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, Mr. Trump was asked by the press about his Mideast plan’s timetable.

“No deliberations,” he said. “It’s been very well received where basically the United States would view it as a real estate transaction where we’ll be an investor in that part of the world. No rush to do anything. We wouldn’t need anybody. We’ll be supplied and given to us by Israel. They’ll watch it in terms of security.”

He added, “We’re not talking about boots on the ground. The fact that we’re there, that we have an investment there would go a long way to creating peace. We don’t want to see everybody move back and then move out in 10 years.”

He pointed to the myriad conflicts in that area and said, “We just want to see stability. That would be having us have that particular peace in that particular location. I think it would show great stability and lead to great stability in the area for very little money, very little price and we wouldn’t need soldiers at all that would be taken care of by others.”

Same would go for the money going toward his possible project: It would be “taken care of by others,” he repeated, saying, “We’re in no rush on it. There’s absolutely no rush.”

Mr. Trump made his announcement this week, floating the Gaza idea at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He called on other Mideast countries to take in Palestinian refugees and help rebuild the area.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.