Report: Trump held no meetings on Gaza takeover plan before announcement
New York Times says president did not explore ‘feasibility’ or outline any details; George Washington University prof says he presented Trump’s campaign with similar plan last year
US President Donald Trump did not hold meetings or discussions or explore any of the practicalities or legalities behind his proposal to take “ownership” of Gaza and displace its 2 million residents before announcing it at a press conference this week, according to a report Wednesday in The New York Times.
Trump had recently repeatedly floated the idea that Egypt and Jordan take in some Gazan refugees while the Strip was being rebuilt — an idea they have both rejected. But on Tuesday the new US president went much further during a statement to the media at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when he suggested that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip,” while the enclave’s residents should be resettled in other countries.
According to The Times, prior to the announcement, “his administration had not done even the most basic planning to examine the feasibility” of such a proposal and the potential level of US involvement.
Citing several unnamed officials, the newspaper reported that there had been no meetings with either the Pentagon or the State Department to discuss such a plan, as well as “no estimates of the troop numbers required, or cost estimates, or even an outline of how it might work.”
One US official said Trump had never mentioned the involvement of US troops in Gaza before his pronouncement on Tuesday. And other advisers told the newspaper that they “expected the Gaza ownership idea to die away quietly as it became clear to Mr. Trump that it was unfeasible.”
Asked at the press conference on Tuesday about the “authority” that would enable the US to take control of a foreign territory, Trump said only that it was “not a decision made lightly” and that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.”
During an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: “I don’t think [Trump] talked about sending US troops to complete the job of destroying Hamas — that’s our commitment, that’s our job and we’re absolutely committed to it.”
He added, “I also don’t think he said he’s going to fund it. He said that neighboring states, wealthy states, would do it.”
According to a report in The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, Zman Yisrael, the outline of the plan originated with Joseph Pelzman, a professor at George Washington University, who published a paper in July 2024 entitled “An Economic Plan for Rebuilding Gaza.”
The proposal outlines a plan for outside countries and figures to “invest” in rebuilding Gaza under a 50-year lease, after which “sovereignty” for residents would be addressed. According to the plan, the primary focus of reconstruction would be on the tourism sector, including building beachfront hotels.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Trump told Netanyahu in a phone call in late summer 2024 that Gaza is a “prime piece of real estate” and that it could be an ideal site to construct hotels.
Pelzman told a podcast in August 2024 that his paper “went to the Trump people, because they were the ones who initially had an interest, not the Biden people.” He said that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, “wants to put money in it… they’re salivating to get in.”
Pelzman said that under his proposal, the Gaza Strip would be “completely emptied out,” noting that “the United States can lean on Egypt” to accept refugees from Gaza, because “Egypt is a bankrupt state” with significant debt to the US.
Kushner, who served as a senior adviser in Trump’s first administration but has so far remained behind the scenes this time around, said in February 2024 that Gaza’s waterfront property “could be very valuable.”
The comments were widely panned at the time, with viewers suggesting Kushner wanted to expel the Palestinians and privately develop the land. Kushner has said that, when listened to in full, the recording demonstrates he was only making a point about the misuse of resources by Hamas to build tunnels and attack infrastructure rather than foster a peaceful economy.
