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• 00:00[CC may contain inaccuracies] 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. And everybody I have spoken to, this was not a decision made lightly. Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs. He has a different idea. And I think it’s worth paying attention to this. 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 worth while really pursuing this avenue. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking of the White House, where the president proposed the U.S. takeover of Gaza. Well, joining us now is retired General Wesley Clark, chairman and CEO at Wesley Clark and Associates and former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe. General, good to have you with us. Perfect timing to have you on a show just to put it up there. The U.S. taking over Gaza is actually illegal under international law. Well, of course, it would have to be given. That’s the first thing. But as Linda, you know, I did do the work in Bosnia. We were part of the peace delegation. We had a peace agreement there. Look, you have to take what President Trump so seriously as the president of the United States. Some people are dismissing it. But here’s here are the challenges he has to face. First of all, even if Israel agrees, who represents the Palestinian people? Does Hamas. Are they going to agree? What about the Palestinian Authority? And then you have the terrorists that are in there in addition to like Islamic Jihad. And then where will the people go if they leave Gaza? The Jordanians have said they don’t want an Egyptian, so they don’t want them. They’ve got their own issues with population. That’s one and a half, almost 2 million people that have got to go somewhere. Are they going to be in a refugee camp? Who’s going to build it or is it going to be. And then what are the rules of engagement for the U.S. military if it goes in? There? Are we are just peace keepers or we wait to get shot at or we’re wearing blue helmets, or are we taking the role of the Israelis? If so, people are not going to like that. And so there are many, many issues that are very difficult here. This is something that has to be worked over many, many months. And there are there’s already considerable opposition to it already voiced in the region. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, but also consider it against the very limited resources of the United States military at this point. We have about 440,000 in the Army. We’re stretched from the Pacific into Europe and now we’re going to. But we have a couple of thousand maybe in the Middle East. Now we’re going to put what in Gaza to make sure this works. 20,000, 40,000, and then rotate them. So you have to have three times the number that are deployed. Look, there are many, many, many steps to be analyzed before this could be realized. But I do think it has to be taken seriously. If the president says it, I hope the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense and the military leaders will, you know, give it a hard look and come back to the president, say, Mr. President, here’s what it takes. General, are you then saying that it is actually a viable option, a viable solution, a viable alternative? He’s not just shooting from the hip. Well, he may be shooting from the hip, I don’t know. But, you know, we don’t know if it’s a viable alternative. It certainly doesn’t look like it right now. But with enough money was enough leadership. But as Linda, you also have the Iranian nuclear threat. You have war in Ukraine. You have the challenge of dealing with China and trying to sort through that relationship. You know, my experience with the U.S. government is we’re pretty good at handling one issue at a time, two issues simultaneously. That’s hard. Put this on us. It’s even more difficult. So we’ve got many different issues on a plate for the United States government to deal with right now. This is another one. Look, if this is President Trump’s priority, then the U.S. government has to follow it. But I’ve done these peacekeeping operations before. I know what the negotiations entail. And this is a very, very difficult proposition to make work. And even Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t say, oh, yeah, let’s do it. He said, it’s interesting. We’ll look at it. It could change history. Okay. He’s on a diplomatic visit to the United States. But we should know that when we put American soldiers in there, if there’s fighting, we’re in the middle of a conflict in the Middle East. That’s probably not sustainable. And President Trump is another war. So it’s a difficult problem. You could imagine how the Americans are looking at this. The last thing they want is for the American troops to be involved in yet another war, and especially in the Middle East. I mean, is this a politically, politically risky proposition for Trump? How do you think this will be viewed at home? Oh, I think it’ll be viewed as as grandiose and probably over the top. But, you know, he’s the president of the United States. People are going to have to take it seriously who are in the Defense Department and State Department. But, you know, Linda, if if this had been feasible, I know the Biden administration tried to talk to President Sisi in Egypt and and in Jordan before the Israelis began their operations after October 7th. And there was no willingness on the part at that time to take the Gazans as refugees and get them out of the conflict zone. So they stayed there and the Gazans didn’t want to leave, and Hamas didn’t want them to leave because Hamas wanted to use them as human shields. So I don’t know what Hamas has to say and or the Palestinian Authority. That’s really the first that’s the first step in this. And they haven’t been heard from. And Trump’s language around Gaza seems to suggest that he looks at it as a property deal, real estate deal for someone who has experience in the rebuilding after a war. I mean, do you think he understands what it all entails? You know, I don’t want to I don’t know. But, you know. Yes, sure. Everybody likes oceanfront beachfront property. Sure. But this is a really difficult place in the world. And, you know, once people start dying and other people start killing them, I mean, it takes generations to get through this. There’s so much hatred. There’s so much fear, There’s so much concern in the region about this. And if you were to simply now plop a bunch of American troops in the middle of it, we don’t speak Arabic. Well, this is not our fight. This is not something we’re going to be good at. We learned the first time when we went into Afghanistan in 2001, it was you get in there, somebody comes up to you and speaks in a foreign language. Has George Soros stole my bicycle? What are you going to do about it? And you don’t know what they’re saying. You don’t know how it’s dealt with. You’re not part of the culture. These are there are huge problems at the bottom, not to mention the strategic consent at the top. So, look, he’s the president of the United States. Better listen to him. But. Well, I’ve done these things. I can tell you how difficult this is. This is unimaginably difficult. General, do you think what we’re hearing from Trump now will be a reflection of his foreign policy stance? How concerned are you about that? Well, you know, he’s come into offices on this second time around. He’s he recognizes it’s a different world. He likes to deal at the head of state level. He has a short staff that supports him. But but he makes the calls and that’s the way he likes it. He wants people under him that are loyal. So most presidents, I think every other president, something like this would have floated through the staffing process. There would have been a staff level, there would have been deputies committee, they would have a principals committee. They would have looked at alternatives. They would have raised the risks, the cost. So now we’re going to pay for this. Where are these people going to go? Who’s going to make the calls? Everything would have been coordinated and worked out in advance. There’s no indication that that’s really taken place thus far. He’s only been in office for about two weeks and there’s so many things going on. Right. But, you know, he likes to be in the headlines every day. He’s certainly captured the news cycle with this one. And obviously, if you could end fighting in the Middle East, it’d be a great thing.