- Trump's proposal would relocate 1.8 million Palestinians from Gaza and allow the U.S. to lead reconstruction of the area.
- Many world leaders opposed, including Saudi Arabia, the U.K., Jordan, more.
- Americans are divided, some calling it 'ethnic cleansing,' some seeing it as a pathway to peace, and others seeing it as a departure from America first agenda.
Standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, President Donald Trump proposed that the U.S. “take over the Gaza Strip.”
“We’ll be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, get rid of all the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he said.
The 1.8 million Palestinians currently living in Gaza would be relocated to “numerous sites or one large site,” and the space would be paid for by neighboring countries “with humanitarian hearts,” Trump explained.
“The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative,” Trump said, adding that if moved to a new location, “they’ll have peace.”
If relocated, “they won’t be shot at and killed and destroyed like this civilization of wonderful people has had to endure,” he said.
In addition to this proposal, Trump also announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council and ending support for the U.N Reliefs and Works Agency, saying the organization “funneled money to Hamas, which was very disloyal to humanity.”
The president added that the U.S. is now enforcing a “maximum pressure policy on the Iranian regime,” which includes aggressive sanctions and regulations against importing Iranian oil.
How is the international community reacting?
Many world leaders, both in the Middle East and in the West, expressed their opposition to Trump’s proposal on Gaza.
Perhaps the most outspoken was the Saudi Arabian government, who declared “unequivocal rejection” of Trump’s proposal.
In a statement on X, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced they would not support “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.”
Jordan’s Royal Court echoed Saudi Arabia, rejecting “any attempts to annex land or displace the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said, “Our people in Gaza will not allow for these plans to come to pass. What is needed is the end of the occupation and the aggression against our people, not expelling them from their land,” per The New York Times.
Addressing the British House of Commons, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, Palestinians “must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”
Other foreign governments who have publicly opposed Trump’s idea include France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Australia and Egypt.
Trump’s divides among U.S. congressmen
Some members of Congress, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., have been outspoken in opposing the relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
In an X post, Tlaib wrote, “This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal. He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”
However, other Congressmen have voiced their support of Trump’s announcement, calling it a move toward peace in the Middle East.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote in an X post Tuesday evening, “President Trump has the right vision for the future of the Middle East. He is again showing the way as a peacemaker for our time.”
Similarly, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., reposted a video of Trump at the White House with Netanyahu and wrote, “President Trump is fighting for historic and lasting peace.”
‘Is this a problem we want to inherit?’ Americans ask
Wednesday morning, founder of TPUSA and political podcaster Charlie Kirk posed several questions he believes Americans should ask about Trump’s proposal.
First, Kirk asked if the conflict in the Middle East is a big problem for the United States.
“Is this a problem we want to inherit? Is this a problem that we should have to supervise? Is this a problem that we should have to babysit and nanny?” Kirk asked.
Kirk said, “The occupation of Gaza is not worth the life of a single Marine from Oklahoma. Period. It’s not worth it,” he said.
During Wednesday’s White House briefing, a reporter asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt how rebuilding and running Gaza would work under an America first foreign policy.
Leavitt responded by saying Trump has not committed any U.S. military or financial assistance to rebuilding Gaza.
She continued, “Let me just take a step back here. This is an out of the box idea. That’s who President Trump is, that’s why the American people elected him, and his goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region.”