White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt snapped at a reporter who asked her about the possibility of U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza.
Leavitt defended President Donald Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to ‘own’ Gaza in the Middle East but pushed back at journalists who questioned the details of the plan. She called it an ‘out of the box’ idea that would meet the president’s goal of ‘lasting peace.’
‘The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground,’ she told NBC’s Garrett Haake when he asked about the issue.
‘He said the United States will not pay for the rebuilding of the Gaza. His administration will work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region.’
Trump stunned allies and foes alike on Tuesday when he dropped his bombshell proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza and have the United States take ownership of it.
Both the legality and seriousness of the idea were questioned and many world leaders rush to express their support for keeping Palestinians in Gaza.
‘Let me take a step back here,’ Leavitt said. ‘This is out of the box idea and that is who President Trump is and why the American people elected him. His goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region.’
‘This is out of the box idea and that is who President Trump is and why the American people elected him,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said
Trump’s plan includes the forced relocation of two million Palestinian residents to other nations while he while he turns Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’
‘The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a good job with it too,’ Trump said.
‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,’ he continued. ‘Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings.’
When asked who would live there, he answered: ‘I envision world people living there The world’s people.’
And he suggested Jordan and Egypt could take in the 2 million Palestinians he wanted to move out of the area.
The Palestinian Authority rejected Trump’s plan.
And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to ‘protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,’ saying that what Trump wanted to do would be ‘a serious violation of international law.’
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump’s idea was ‘ridiculous.’
‘Trump’s remarks about his desire to control Gaza are ridiculous and absurd, and any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region,’ he said. ‘We consider them [the plan] a recipe for generating chaos and tension in the region because the people of Gaza will not allow such plans to pass.’
Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House next week, also rejected the plan.
‘His Majesty King Abdullah II stresses the need to put a stop to (Israeli) settlement expansion, expressing rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians,’ the Jordanian royal court said in a post on X.
Leavitt said they have seen the ‘same solutions’ for the Middle East for decades and it was time for a new one.
‘We have seen people pushing the same solutions to this problem for decades. It has been very, very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people. That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean the taxpayers will fund this effort,’ she said.
‘Donald Trump who is the best dealmaker on the planet will strike a deal with partners the region,’ she added.
President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu of Israel hold a news conference in the East Room of the White House
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt showed the destruction in Gaza
A ceasefire is currently in place in Gaza as Israeli and Hamas work on a permanent peace plan.
It’s unclear how Trump’s shocking pronouncement will affect those talks. It could be an opening gambit to get the talks moving.
Trump’s proposal left allies scratching their heads in confusion and trying to determine how serious the president is about the idea.
Countries from Canada to the United Kingdom to China voiced their opposition.
‘Gaza belongs to Palestine — and no one else,’ said Jagmeet Singh, a member of Canada’s Parliament.
‘Trump’s threats are utter madness,’ he wrote on social media, adding that ‘Canada must stand up to this forcefully. Gaza is not for sale, it belongs to the Palestinians.’
‘They (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,’ said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
‘I was speechless when I heard this announcement, I’m circumspect, I don’t know if it’s serious or not,’ said Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, a French diplomat.
‘Palestinian rule over Palestinians is the basic principle of the postwar governance of Gaza, and we are opposed to the forced transfer of the residents of Gaza,’ Lin Jian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters.
The only people celebrating the idea are far-right Israeli politicians.
Bezalel Smotrich, the hardline finance minister of Israel, said Trump’s plan was ‘the true answer to Oct. 7,’ which was the date Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the latest conflict.
