POLITICS NEWS – Trump says he wants ‘take over’ Gaza for wealthy development

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer 

President Trump voiced two ideas on Tuesday about Gaza and the Palestinian people. His policies regarding the Middle East are first that “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.” Trump first voiced this idea in a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump went on to say in this press conference “We’ll own it … We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal … the Riviera of the Middle East.” His second idea for Middle East foreign policy is that the entirety of Gaza’s population would need to relocate to other countries. Trump then stated, “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck.” 

Trump did not present any specifics about how we would implement his plans. On Wednesday Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, stated that “The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.” She also stated that the U.S. would not pay for Gaza’s reconstruction but would work with its allies in the region to help rebuild the territory.