The apparent origin story to President Donald Trump’s reinvention of Gaza has been revealed.
During a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, Trump unveiled a wild card plan involving a U.S. “take over” of the Gaza Strip to redevelop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Though it came as a surprise to many, Trump has reportedly been mulling it over for some time.
“The president has said he’s been socializing this idea for quite some time. He’s been thinking about this,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday before acknowledging that the idea was never put to paper until Trump’s comments on Tuesday.
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“The plan was written in the president’s remarks last night as he revealed it to the world,” she explained.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, CNN reports that Trump’s idea to boot out Palestinians while he builds property on Gaza–a recognized sovereign state of Palestine by roughly three quarters of the United Nations–was developed over time and like many of his other policy ideas originated with himself.
The outlet adds that the idea seemingly spurred from his frustration with inaction from other nations and his desire to find a way to rebuild Gaza, which has been turned to rubble by Israeli bombardment after Hamas launched an attack against the country on October 7, 2023.
CNN also reports that some officials had been briefed on the plan while others, including one adviser on Middle Eastern issues, had not.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
“We’ve been looking at this over the last weeks and months, and frankly he’s been thinking about it since October 7,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told CBS Wednesday on Trump’s parasitic real-estate ambition.
“He’s not seeing any realistic solutions on how those miles and miles and miles of debris are going to be cleared,” Waltz continued. “The fact that nobody has a realistic solution, and he puts some bold, fresh, new ideas on the table, I don’t think should be criticized in any way. I think it’s going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions if they don’t like Mr. Trump’s solutions.”
The president suggested a “long-term ownership” of Gaza Tuesday, where U.S. troops would potentially be used to displace around 2 million Palestinians from their homeland to “level the site” and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
He added that he envisioned “the world’s people,” including Palestinians, living in this new and improved Gaza Strip, however did not respond to questions on where Palestinians would reside while his passion project took place.
During his Inauguration Day last month, Trump hinted at the idea when asked about Gaza. “It’s a phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather,” the president mused. “Everything’s good. Some beautiful things could be done with it.”
His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also floated similar sentiments last year when he called Gaza’s waterfront “very valuable” during an interview at Harvard University.
