Trump kept Gaza takeover proposal under wraps, discussed it only with inner circle – WSJ

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference with unseen Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference with unseen Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)

US President Donald Trump came up in recent days with his idea of taking over the Gaza Strip, running the proposal by close aides while keeping it a secret even from administration officials who were tasked with preparing for his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing administration officials.

According to the WSJ, officials outside of Trump’s innermost circle were not told about the US president’s plan, which took even some of his most fervent supporters in the pro-Israel community by surprise.

The Journal quoted one longtime pro-Israel fundraiser for Trump who called the idea “insane.”

Trump said yesterday during a visit by Netanyahu that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” adding that the enclave’s almost two million residents should be resettled elsewhere, rather than remain in the war-ravaged enclave, which he called a “hellhole” and a “demolition site.”

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