A day after President Trump shocked the world by floating a plan to take over and redevelop the war-torn Gaza Strip, the White House stood firm on the proposal but said the relocation of Palestinian residents would be only temporary.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is not looking to “put boots on the ground” but didn’t rule out the deployment of U.S. troops. She said U.S. taxpayers wouldn’t foot the bill for revitalizing Gaza.
“This is an out-of-the-box idea. That’s who President Trump is, that’s why the American people elected him,” Ms. Leavitt said.
Mr. Trump announced during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the U.S. was considering taking over Gaza and relocating the 2.2 million Palestinians who live there to create a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Ms. Leavitt echoed Mr. Trump’s observation that Gaza had become a “demolition site” because Hamas launched terrorist raids on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and took hostages, prompting a bombardment and invasion by Israeli forces to rout Hamas militants from the neighboring Palestinian territory.
She made clear that Mr. Trump, who has often criticized U.S. military deployments, doesn’t prefer sending troops to the area.
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“The president has not committed to that yet,” Ms. Leavitt said when asked whether American troops would be stationed in Gaza. “He is a peacemaker in chief.”
His proposal for a “long-term ownership position” by the U.S. stunned lawmakers in Washington across the aisle and Arab leaders. Some were concerned that the proposal could jeopardize a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
At the swearing-in for Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, Mr. Trump declined a reporter’s request to elaborate on the Gaza plan, saying it was “not the right time.”
During a meeting Wednesday with Mr. Netanyahu at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mr. Trump was “willing to think outside the box and look for new and unique and dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they were intractable.”
Mr. Hegseth didn’t offer any specifics about the future of the Palestinian enclave or any U.S. military role. He said he didn’t want to get ahead of the president.
“The president is involved in very complex and high-level negotiations of great consequence to both the United States and Israel,” Mr. Hegseth said. “We look forward to working with our allies and our counterparts — both diplomatically and militarily — to look at all options.”
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Mr. Netanyahu said the idea “could change history.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, seemed supportive of the idea. He said Mr. Trump is taking a “bold, decisive action to try to assure the peace of refuge.”
Reuters reported Wednesday that Hamas officials told Russia’s RIA state news agency that “we are ready for contact and talks with the Trump administration.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, called the idea “problematic at many, many levels.”
Sen. Christopher Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, said Mr. Trump has “lost it” and that the “invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of U.S. troops.”
Arab nations weren’t lining up to aid Gaza, either.
Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan research institute that focuses on foreign policy and national security, said no Arab country will be open to Mr. Trump’s idea “unless they find themselves having their arms twisted and really forced into doing so.”
He noted past talks about splitting Gaza into sectors, with foreign powers taking control of each one, but “the problem has been that no Arab state, not the U.S., not the EU, no one has stepped forth and said, ‘We are ready to build.’”
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its “firm and unwavering” stance in support of a Palestinian state.
The kingdom also reiterated “its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the statement posted on X said.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, which has rejected Mr. Trump’s call to take refugees, said in a statement that the enclave should be rebuilt “without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.”
Jordan, whose president is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump on Tuesday, also has rejected the president’s call to take refugees and the plan for their relocation.
Over the weekend, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League joined Egypt and Saudi Arabia in a statement saying that the relocation of Palestinians could “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”
Mr. Schanzer said Mr. Trump essentially announced a call to action by Arab nations that stood by and observed the destruction in Gaza over the past year.
“It will be interesting to see whether Donald Trump’s provocative comments yesterday spur any action on their part,” he said, adding that each country in the region has a “different potential role” they could play in the rebuilding process.
Mr. Trump has not outlined any details of his proposed revitalized Gaza, and there are “a million ways” the plan could go sour, Mr. Schanzer said.
He said any construction would “almost certainly” be targeted by terrorists. If no one steps up, the plan could ultimately go nowhere and leave Gaza to go down the same road of “abject destruction and poverty” it has experienced for decades.
“What I think Trump did is, he at least articulated a different vision for Gaza, other than the current mode that we’re in, which is the perpetuation of misery,” he said.
• Mike Glenn contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.