When President Trump announced his proposal for the United States to take Gaza’s ownership on Tuesday, he also surprised his own White House and senior members of the government.
While its announcement was formally and thoughtful-he read the project with a paper sheet-his administration made the idea to test the feasibility of the idea even to examine the feasibility of the idea. The basic plan was not made. Not authorized to speak publicly.
It was not just the Americans who were entering. The announcement is so surprising to Mr. Trump’s Israeli visitors. Soon since he left for his joint news conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump surprised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by surprise that he intended to declare Gaza’s ownership, two men. Briefing about the conversation.
Within the US government, there were no meetings with the State Department or the Pentagon, as is usually for any serious proposal for foreign policy, leave something like this. There were no working groups. The Department of Defense did not outline the number of the required squads, or cost estimates, or even how it works.
The president’s head was nothing short of an idea.
Unlike past foreign policy announcements with past presidents, including Mr Trump, the concept of Gaza -controlled state has never been part of a public debate before Tuesday.
But privately, Mr Trump has been talking about Enclave’s US ownership for weeks. According to two administration officials, his thinking intensified, after his Middle East envoy, Steve Watkov, returned from Gaza last week and described the horrific situation there.
But no one – not in the White House, not from the Israelis – Mr Trump expected that he would end the idea shortly before doing so. The idea was fulfilled with immediate opposition to the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, an important US ally. And in the comments to reporters on Wednesday, White House press secretary Crown Levyt tried to soften some of Mr Trump’s statements.
Although Mr Trump had asked why Palestinians would like to return to Gaza after moving and suggested that the area could become a shelter for tourists, Ms. Levyt maintained that Mr Trump just wanted Jordan to And take Egypt into the Palestinians “temporarily”. Despite the interest of “long -term ownership”, Mr Trump reduced the idea of US financial investment.
He also said that the president did not pledge to put the shoes on the ground, though Mr Trump had said: “We will do what is necessary. And if it is necessary, we will do it.
It is unclear whether Mr Trump had previously discussed the matter with the Israelis in any detail. An Israeli embassy spokesman did not respond to a message seeking clarification.
His offer left more questions than answers, such as: How will it work? How many US troops will be needed to clear the mountains of Hamas and the debris and eliminate all the unmanned ordinances? What will cost to reproduce the demolition site Las Vegas? How will the Palestinian territory be justified under international law? And what will happen to two million refugees?
In the aftermath of the announcement, senior administration officials were particularly short on the responses. Soon the reason for his dishonor became clear: There are no real details.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Walts, appeared on “CBS morning” to sell Gaza’s idea. But it was clear from the conversation that it was less than a “concept of a plan,” as Mr Trump had described his views for a health care policy during the 2024 campaign. This project has never been implemented.
Mr Waltz said, “The fact is that no one has a realistic solution, and he puts some very bold, fresh new ideas on the table, I don’t think it should be criticized in any way.” “I think if they don’t like Mr Trump’s solution, he will bring the entire region with his solution.”
Mr Trump has been pressing the Jordanians and Egyptians to take people from Gaza for weeks, but so far the leaders of both countries have refused. Forcibly removing Gaza Palestinians will violate international law, but Mr Trump said at his news conference on Tuesday that he expects he will be anxious to leave the ground because it is uninhabited. He said that they would probably come back.
He said all this was standing with Mr Netanyahu, whose military campaign had eliminated Gaza mostly after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023 – many conditions mentioned by Mr Trump. Used to produce.
Mr Trump said, “The United States will occupy the Gaza Strip, and we will also work with it.” “We will own it and will be responsible for eliminating all the dangerous bombs and other weapons on the site. Apply the site level and get rid of the damaged buildings. Extract it.”
Mr Netanyahu, who has been trying to clear Hamas from Gaza since the massacre of more than 1,200 people on October 7, looks happy when Mr Trump speaks.
Other US officials were less happy with the proposal. Two people close to Mr Trump insisted that they just think. One said he had never heard of him mentioning the involvement of US troops before Tuesday.
Several senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive debates, told the New York Times that they are still trying to detect the idea of the idea, and Mr Trump’s They also consider it amazing.
It is difficult for Mr Trump’s former presidents to build national construction in the Middle East. Its proposal that the United States accepts responsibility for one of the world’s worst catastrophic zones as it was shutting down the Primary Federal Government Agency responsible for foreign development aid, USAID
But Mr Trump’s emotions have never been as anti -interviews as he wants to be isolated in his party. When the Iraq war began, he initially rejoiced before condemning it. In 2011, when he considered contesting for the president, he said that the United States should “take oil” from Iraq, and he has promoted the idea of extracting important minerals from the US military from overseas war areas. –
In his second presidential period, he has presented his imperial sentiment for display. He has said he wants the United States to buy a greenland, refusing to reject the military force despite the existence of the US base. He has said he wants to withdraw the Panama Canal and Canada should become the 51st state in the United States. He said he believes that the United States should be entitled to the natural resources of Ukraine because whatever military aid that the United States has paid, he has sent Ukraine people to help defend themselves against the Russians.
Mr. Trump views foreign policy as a property deale maker. He never cared for international law, never gave a lecture to independent human rights leaders as other US presidents.
Instead, for decades, it has seen the world as a set of countries that are eliminating the United States. He is facing the question of how to benefit from other countries, whether it is an ally or opposite. And he looks for ways to use American power and remove what he can do to dominate other countries. Mr Trump does not believe in “win” diplomacy. All deals, whether business or foreign affairs, are clear winners and clear losers.
Like Mr Trump, his Middle East envoy, Mr. Watkov, is also a real estate developer and investor who has done business in the region. And Mr. Trump’s son -in -law, Gerard Kushner, another real estate investor, who worked in the Middle East portfolio in his first term, riffed About the incredible development opportunities offered by the Gaza Water Front last year.
Mr Trump’s advisers said he expects Gaza’s ownership to end quietly because it became clear to Mr Trump that it was unbearable. And it seems that Wednesday is already happening.
But Daniel B. Shopero, who served as a US ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama, and recently said in the Pentagon that even the idea of provoking more extremism while floating was just floating. He: “This is not a serious suggestion.
“The danger is that extremists and terrorists of different striides within the Israeli government will take it literally and seriously and will begin to act,” he said. “It can affect further release of hostages, can target US personnel’s backs, and reduce Saudi Arabia’s chances of normalizing normal.”
When the Trump team heard such warning from former Democratic administration officials, they confronted that Obama’s officials (though Mr. Shapiro were not included in them) wrongly warned that Mr. Trump After moving the United States embassy in Israel, the Middle East will come into the Middle East. Jerusalem in 2017. He also states that it was Mr. Trump who made routine agreements between Israel and four Muslim -majority states in his first term. .
Mr Trump’s Gaza Taxover Idea has pleased many people in the strong right of some people in Israel and the US -Israeli supporters. The Israeli government has long wanted to occupy Gaza with Palestinians to ensure that the land cannot be used to launch terrorist attacks against Israel.
David Friedman, who served as Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Israel in his first term, expressed surprise through this announcement, but the president’s idea “brilliantly and out of the box is just creative and clearly out of the box. Outside the solution, I have heard that I heard that in 50 years, in this disturbing part of the world, it is likely to change the dynamics.
Mr Fredman said in an interview that his team faced the challenge in Trump’s first term, “We can never answer this basic question, which is why, is anyone who on Gaza Can be ruled by people in Gaza as well as in Israel?
He said it was unbearable for Hamas or Palestinians who supported it to stay in Gaza. Instead, when asked who will stay there instead, Mr Fredman said it would be a “market -based process” after 15 years of reconstruction.
“I know I am raising a voice like a real estate boy, but he cannot help but can imagine the possibilities that” 25 miles face sunset “, he said.
