Trump says U.S. will “take over the Gaza Strip” during news conference with Netanyahu

President Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” and “own it,” continuing to promote the idea that the Palestinian people should live elsewhere. 

Mr. Trump, whose comments came at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Palestinians in Gaza “should not go through a process of rebuilding” and that they had “lived a miserable existence there.” Earlier in the afternoon, during a meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said the Palestinians should “resettle permanently” in “nice homes” somewhere else. 

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Mr. Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of 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. Do a real job. Do something different.”

“Just can’t go back,” he continued. “If you go back, it’s gonna end up the same way it has for a hundred years.” 

Netanyahu, who is the first foreign leader to visit Mr. Trump during his second term, said of the president’s idea, “We’re talking about it. He’s exploring it with his people, with his staff. I think it’s something that could change history, and it’s worthwhile really pursuing this avenue.”

On whether U.S. troops would be sent to Gaza, the president said, “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

“We’re going to take over that piece,” Mr. Trump added. “We’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of.”

The president was asked by a reporter what authority he has to take over a sovereign territory, and he replied that he’s studied the matter closely for months. 

“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East,” Mr. Trump said. 

The president said his decision about taking over Gaza “was not a decision made lightly,” and he claimed he’s received praise from other leaders in the Middle East, though he did not identify any by name. Two sources said later that top Trump aides knew in advance of Netanyahu’s visit that the president planned to announce the proposal regarding U.S. ownership of Gaza.

Leaders of several of the most powerful Arab nations previously said they strongly opposed any suggestion that residents of Gaza be resettled in other countries.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement reported by the Reuters news agency Wednesday that the kingdom “rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land” and wouldn’t establish diplomatic ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement said.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri was also quick to dismiss the idea out of hand, telling Reuters the president’s “remarks about his desire to control Gaza are ridiculous and absurd, and any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region.”

Hamas also called Mr. Trump “racist” and said his plan aims to “eliminate the Palestinian cause,” according to Agency France-Presse.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat and the first Palestinian-American to service in Congress, was blunt, asserting in a post on X that Trump was “openly calling for ethnic cleansing.”

In the past, Mr. Trump has voiced support for a “realistic two-state solution.” Gaza, a 139-square-mile strip of land that shares borders with Israel and Egypt, has been fought over for years. Palestinians have been refugees for decades, since Israel gained control of it in the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Asked who would eventually live in Gaza once it’s rebuilt, Mr. Trump said it should be an international place. 

“I envision world people living there, the world’s people,” he said, adding that the residents should be “representatives from all over the world, Palestinians, also.” He said it would be “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Mr. Trump opened the news conference by reinforcing his warm relationship with Netanyahu, saying they had forged a successful partnership in his first term. He claimed that the last four years — under former President Joe Biden — had not seen as many successes. 

He claimed “the grave damage around the globe that was done, including in the Middle East … the horrors of Oct. 7 would never have happened if I were president.”

In the wake of the massacre of Israeli civilians in 2023, however, Netanyahu praised Biden “for his vital support for Israel.”

Netanyahu suggested Mr. Trump may be unconventional, but he has good ideas, and they work well together. 

“After the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and they say, ‘You know, he’s right,'” Netanyahu said. 

Netanyahu told reporters he found he had something else in common with Mr. Trump, too — he said Iran has tried to kill them both. 

Trump, Netanyahu meet in Oval Office before news conference

Seated next to Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump repeatedly said he doesn’t think Palestinians want to return to Gaza and said that he thinks Jordan, Egypt and other nations would accept Palestinians, even though they’ve said they won’t. 

“They are not gonna want to go back to Gaza,” Mr. Trump said, adding that Palestinians would only “end up dying” there, and suggesting Palestinians should have a permanent settlement elsewhere. 

“If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes and where they can be happy and not be shot, not be killed, not be knifed to death, like what’s happening in Gaza,” Mr. Trump said. “And right now you have in Gaza a very dangerous situation in terms of explosives all over the place, in terms of tunnels that nobody knows who’s in the tunnel. The whole thing is a mess.” 

The president said other “rich” nations should pay for a new home for Palestinians, although he did not expand on this suggestion.

Netanyahu largely allowed Mr. Trump to speak. One reporter asked the Israeli prime minister whether former President Joe Biden or Mr. Trump is more responsible for the hostage and ceasefire deal. 

“I think President Trump added great force and powerful leadership to this effort,” Netanyahu replied. 

The ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered in part by the U.S., continues to hold so far. Dual citizen Keith Siegel was the first American to be released since the implementation began last month, although other Americans have been released before. 

On Sunday, Netanyahu said he would discuss “victory over Hamas” with Mr. Trump, as well as countering Iran and building on diplomatic relationships with Arab nations.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday that he has “no guarantees that the peace is going to hold.” 

The president’s meeting with Netanyahu being his first with a foreign leader signals how the Trump White House views the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“Trump is going to continue his support for our great ally, Israel,” national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Fox News Tuesday.

Waltz said the U.S. and Israel have “more to go” in terms of returning Americans held hostage. And the national security adviser said the U.S. has to think “realistically” about rebuilding Gaza. 

“I would push back on the characterization of cleaning out Gaza,” Waltz told reporters Tuesday. “I think President Trump is looking at this from a humanitarian standpoint. You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordnance and piles of rubble. You know, at some point we have to look realistically. How do you rebuild Gaza? What does that look like? What’s the timeline? I think we, a lot of people, were looking at very unrealistic timelines. We’re talking 10, 15, years, not the five years. And so that is what, that’s what we have to work through. That’s part of what we’ll work through with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Netanyahu last met with Mr. Trump in July at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, while Mr. Trump was still a presidential candidate.

Netanyahu congratulated former President Joe Biden on his win in 2020, something that Mr. Trump long held against him. But the two have worked to repair the relationship in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.

One reporter noted their relationship has had its ups and downs. 

“I think it’s mostly ups,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. 

Fin Gómez,

Jennifer Jacobs and

Aaron Navarro

contributed to this report.