Inside Trump’s Hastily Written Proposal to ‘Own’ Gaza

When President Trump announced his proposal for the United States to take ownership of Gaza on Tuesday, he shocked even older members of his own white house and government.

While his announcement looked formally and designed-he pointed the plan from the paper-leaf-hide administration, even the most basic planning did to examine the implementation of the idea, according to four people with knowledge of discussions, which were not authorized to speak publicly.

Not just Americans who fought; The announcement came an equal surprise for the visitors of the Israeli Mr. Trump. Shortly before they went to a joint press conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump surprised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, telling him to plan to announce the idea of ​​ownership in Gaza, according to two people familiar with their interactions.

There were no meetings within the US Government with a state department or pentagon, as would usually occur for any serious proposal of foreign policy, let alone one of such a size. There were no working groups. The Ministry of Defense did not produce any assessments of units required or cost estimates, or even outline so that it could function.

There was little more than the idea in the head of the president.

Unlike the great announcements of external politics with past presidents, including Mr. Trump, the notion of the United States controlling Gaza never have been part of a public debate before Tuesday.

But privately, Mr. Trump has been talking about US ownership of the enclave for weeks. And his thinking accelerated, according to two administration officials, after his envoy in the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, returned from Gaza last week and described the terrible conditions there.

But no one – not in the White House, nor did the Israelites – expect Mr. Trump to break that idea on Tuesday until he did. The idea came across with the current opposition of the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, a key American ally. And in the comments to reporters on Wednesday, the secretary of the Karolina Leavitt White House tried to alleviate some statements by Mr. Trump.

While Mr. Trump questioned why Palestinians would like to return to Gaza after moving him and suggested that the area could become a refuge for tourists, Mrs. Leavitt claimed that Mr. Trump simply wanted Jordan and Egypt temporarily “temporarily attracts Palestinians . ” She, too, was minimized the idea of ​​American financial investment, despite Mr. Trump’s interest in “long -term ownership.”

She also said that the president did not commit to put boots on the ground, although Mr. Trump said, “We will do what is necessary. And if necessary, we will do it.”

It is unclear whether Mr Trump has previously discussed in detail with the Israelis. The spokeswoman for the Israeli embassy did not respond to a message seeking clarity.

His presentation left more questions than answers, such as: How would it work? How many American troops would be necessary to cleanse the hamas and mountains of the ruins and alleviate all non -exploded commands? What would cost renovate the size of the size of the size Las Vegas?? How would Palestinian territory take away international law? And what would happen to two million refugees?

In hours after the announcement, senior administration officials were significantly short of essential answers. The reason for their evidence soon became clear: there were no real details.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump’s national security counselor, Mike Waltz, appeared in “CBS Mornings” to sell the idea of ​​Gaza. But it was clear from the conversation that this was a less plan than the “concept of plan”, because Mr. Trump described his ideas for health care policies during the 2024 campaign. That plan never came true.

“The fact that no one has a realistic solution, and he puts some very bold, fresh new ideas on the table, I don’t think you should criticize them in any way,” said Mr. Waltz. “I think this will bring the whole region to come with their solutions if they do not like Mr. Trump’s solution.”

Mr. Trump has been publicly pressing on Jordanci and Egyptians for weeks to take people from Gaza, but so far the leaders have rejected the leaders of both countries. The forced removal of Palestinians Gaza would violate international law, but Mr Trump said on Tuesday at his press conference that he expected to be eager to leave the country because it was uninhabited. Maybe they could go back in the end, he said.

He said it all stood by Mr. Netanyahu, whose military campaign erased most of Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023 – creating the conditions Mr. Trump meant.

“Now he’ll take over Gaza’s belt, and we’ll do his job with him,” Mr. Trump said. “We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons in place. Learn the place and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Straighten it.”

Mr. Netanyahu, who tries to clean Hamas from Gaza from a massacre of more than 1,200 people, October 7, looked pleased as Mr. Trump spoke.

Other US officials were less delighted with the proposal. Two people close to Mr. Trump insisted that it was just his idea; One said they had never heard him mention the involvement of American troops before Tuesday.

Several high officials, who spoke of anonymity’s state to describe sensitive discussions, said the New York Times that they were still trying to discover the genesis of the idea and considered it fantastic even for Mr. Trump.

The concept is difficult to spoil the criticism of Mr. Trump towards the previous presidents to build a nation in the Middle East. His proposal for America to take responsibility for one of the world’s worst disaster zones also came because he excluded the primary federal government agency responsible for help in external development, USAID

But Mr. Trump’s impulses were never as much anti-interventionist as the isolationists in his party would like them to be. When the war in Iraq began, he initially cheered him up before condemning him. In 2011, when he was thinking of running for the president, he said that the United States should “take oil” from Iraq, and he promoted the idea of ​​the US army that pulled critical minerals from foreign war zones.

In his second presidential term, he exhibited his imperialist urges. He said he wanted the United States to buy Greenland, refusing to exclude military force despite the existence of an American base. He said he wanted to return the Panaman Channel and that Canada should become 51. The state of America. He said he thought the United States should be entitled to the natural resources of Ukraine as a repayment for all military assistance that America sent to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against the Russians.

Mr. Trump considers foreign policy as a manufacturer of real estate agreement. He never took care of international law, never taught autocratic leaders about human rights as other US presidents did.

Instead, for decades, the world has viewed the world to collect countries that have been ripped off by America. The question of how to gain influence over other nations, whether are allies or opponents. And seeks ways to use American power to dominate other countries and pull out everything he can. Mr. Trump does not believe in “Win-Win” diplomacy; All contracts, whether in business or external affairs, have a clear winner and a clear loser.

Like Mr. Trump, his envoy in the Middle East, Mr. Witkoff, is a real estate developer and an investor who operated in the region. And the son -in -law of Mr. Trump Jared Kushner, another real estate investor who worked the Middle East in his first term, demolished Last year about the incredible development capabilities provided by Riva Gaza.

Several advisers of Mr. Trump said they expected the idea of ​​Gaza’s ownership to die quietly because it became clear to Mr. Trump that it was impossible. And that already seemed to happen until Wednesday afternoon.

But Daniel B. Shapiro, who was an American ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, and more recently in Pentagon, said he even just floating the idea risked to cause more extremism: “This is not a serious proposal. The US who has taken over Gaza , with huge costs in dollars and torso, are approximately likely to pay Mexico a wall or united states that take away the Iraqi oil. “

“The danger is that extremists within the Israeli government and terrorists of various stripes will grasp it literally and seriously and start acting on it,” he said. “This could endanger the further publishing of the hostages, putting a target on the back of American staff and undermining the prospect of the Saudi-Israeli Normalization Agreement.”

When Trump’s team hears warnings such as these former Democratic Directorate officials, they are opposed to the Obamines officials (although Mr. Shapiro was not among them) wrongly warned that the Middle East would descend into violence after Mr. Trump moved the Embassy of the United States to Israel in Israel Israel Jerusalem in 2017. They also point out that Mr. Trump submitted agreements on normalization between Israel and the four Muslim majority countries in his first term-Napor, known as Abraham Accords, that the Bidana administration tried to expand to.

The idea of ​​taking over Mr. Trump Gaza delighted many with the hard right right in Israel and some within the American Pro-Israeli community. The Israeli government has long wanted to deprive Gaza from Palestinians to ensure that the country cannot be used to launch terrorist attacks against Israel.

David Friedman, who in his first term was Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Israel, surprised by an announcement, but called the president’s idea “Great and beyond the creative and honest only solution I heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard In 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he heard in 50 years he has a chance to actually change the dynamics in that problematic part of the world .

Mr Friedman said in an interview that the challenge his team faced in the first Trump expression was that “we could never answer the basic question, is someone who can rule over Gaza who will not be a threat to the people in Gaza and Israel? “

He said it was unbearable for Hamas or Palestinians who supported him to stay in Gaza. Asked who would live there, Mr. Friedman said that after 15 years of renovation, it would be a “market process”.

“I know I sound like a real estate guy,” he said, but he couldn’t think of the possibilities she provided “25 miles of sunset.”