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President Donald Trump has said the United States “will take over” Gaza — possibly with the help of US troops — while the Palestinians who live there should leave, a stunning proposal that sparked global criticism and confusion.
The comments raise a host of questions about how Trump’s land-grab would proceed, what its legal authorities would be and who would pay for the effort.
Here are the main developments:
- What Trump said: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said, describing his vision for the area as a new “Riviera.” He added that “we’ll own it,” dismantle unexploded bombs and clear debris. He did not rule out sending US troops to fill a security vacuum in Gaza. He also framed the matter as a humanitarian one, saying Palestinians could be offered a “good, fresh, beautiful piece of land” to live instead of staying in the war-torn territory.
- Hamas’ response: A Hamas official called the proposal a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” and said the people in Gaza “will not allow these plans to pass.” The Palestinian militant group had governed the territory for more than 15 years before its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
- Regional pushback: Arab nations have pushed back on any suggestions to displace Palestinians from Gaza, which opponents argue would amount to ethnic cleansing. Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its “unwavering” support for a Palestinian state, and two Arab officials expressed puzzlement and concern, telling CNN it was “hard to grasp and digest.”
- Bipartisan criticism: GOP senators largely refused to comment as they dashed to and from floor votes, while others expressed some skepticism. Democratic senators were more blunt, with some calling the plan “crazy” and “dangerous.”
- Delight from Israel’s far-right: When Trump first floated the idea last week, it was praised by the Israeli far-right, which has long pushed to expel Palestinians from Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements in the territory. On Wednesday, far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir urged Netanyahu to adopt such a plan, claiming Trump’s comments had vindicated a position he has expressed throughout the war.
President Donald Trump teased an impending announcement of a US proposal for the occupied West Bank when asked by a reporter on Tuesday if he supported Israeli sovereignty over “Judea and Samaria,” the Biblical term many Israelis use to describe the Palestinian territory.
“We’re discussing that with many of your representatives,” Trump replied. “People do like the idea, but we haven’t taken a position on it yet. But we’ll be making an announcement probably on that very specific topic over the next four weeks.”
To some right-wing Israelis, the advent of the Trump administration provides a unique opportunity to extend Israeli control in the West Bank, where more than 500,000 Jewish settlers live on land captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 war. The settlements there are considered illegal under international law.
During his first term, Trump abandoned the long-held US stance that settlements are illegal and several of his nominees have suggested Israel has the right to annex the West Bank.
Elise Stefanik, who is slated to become the new US ambassador to the United Nations, said she agreed with the view that Israel has “a biblical right” to annex the West Bank. Mike Huckabee, who is expected to become US ambassador to Israel, has previously said there is “no such thing as a Palestinian.”
On Tuesday, Republican Senator Tom Cotton introduced legislation to require all official US documents and materials to use “Judea and Samaria” instead of the “West Bank.” The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney on Friday.
“The Israeli people have an undeniable and indisputable historical and legal claim over Judea and Samaria,” Tenney said.
Israel launched a major military offensive in the West Bank in January, two days after the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza came into effect. At the outset, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would adopt tactics learned in the Gaza offensive in its efforts to eradicate militant groups and, in his words, “ensure that terrorism does not return.”
One area majorly hit by Israeli forces has been Jenin, in the northern West Bank. On Tuesday, the UN said all 30,000 residents of the Jenin refugee camp had been forced to leave following an Israeli operation that destroyed hundreds of residential units.
President Donald Trump caused shockwaves on Tuesday with his suggestion that Gaza be taken over by the United States and potentially turned into a real estate development.
But it’s not the first time he’s looked at an intractable geopolitical crisis as a business opportunity.
“We’re going to take over that piece that we’re going to develop it,” he said of Gaza, a war-torn enclave that some 2 million Palestinians call home, in a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. And I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so — this could be so magnificent.”
North Korea dreams: Trump’s comments are reminiscent of those he made during a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018. Trump showed Kim a corporate-style sales video of gleaming skyscrapers, offering a real estate development in exchange for North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons.
“As an example, they have great beaches,” Trump said. “You see that whenever they are exploding the cannons into the ocean. I said, ‘Boy look at that view.’ Wouldn’t that would make a great condo? I said, ‘Instead of doing that, you could have the best hotels in the world.’”
The talks between the US, South Korea and North Korea ultimately fell apart — but Kim has continued to pursue a vision of North Korean luxury travel, planning an enormous beach resort on the southeast coast. The complex was slated to open in 2019 but has been delayed.
Family echoes: Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — also a property magnate, like the president — sparked outrage last year after similar comments on Gaza’s potential for development.
“Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable … if people would focus on building up livelihoods,” Kushner said in March.
“It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up … But I don’t think that Israel has stated that they don’t want the people to move back there afterwards,” Kushner said.
It’s also worth noting that Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is a wealthy real-estate tycoon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t keep the smirk off his face.
Netanyahu looked on in the White House on Tuesday as President Donald Trump delivered the most stunning US intervention in the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The president repeatedly doubled down on his suggestion that nearly 2 million Palestinians should be relocated from battle-leveled Gaza to new homes elsewhere so that the US could send troops to the Strip, take ownership and build the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
“You build really good quality housing, like a beautiful town, like some place where they can live and not die, because Gaza is a guarantee that they’re going to end up dying,” Trump told reporters.
In a few words, Trump conjured up a mind-boggling geopolitical transformation of the Middle East and a political lifeline for Netanyahu – showing why the prime minister, despite their past tensions, was rooting for his host’s return to power in the 2024 election.
Netanyahu can now bill himself to right-wing factions in his coalition, which incessantly threaten his grip on power, as the unique and vital conduit to Trump. The American president’s views now parallel Israeli hardliners’ desire to see Palestinians ousted from part of what they view as the sacred land of Israel.
Trump’s comments – delivered throughout the day, first at an executive action signing ceremony, and later alongside Netanyahu in the Oval Office and at a joint news conference – were a landmark moment in the history of US peacemaking in the Middle East.
To see an American president endorse what would be the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their home, in an exodus that would subvert decades of US policy, international law and basic humanity, was breathtaking.
He envisaged a real estate deal whereby he’d assume responsibility for Gaza and mastermind a job-creating urban regeneration project. He called it an American “ownership position.” A better phrase would be colonialism for the 21st century.
And in all of Trump’s recent public pronouncements on Gaza, there’s an important missing element — any sense that the Palestinian people would have a choice in their own destiny.
The Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday became the first major national security agency to offer so-called buyouts to its entire workforce, a CIA spokesperson and two other sources familiar with the offer said, part of President Donald Trump’s broad effort to shrink the federal government and shape it to his agenda.
The offer — which tells federal employees that they can quit their jobs and receive roughly eight months of pay and benefits — had up until Tuesday not been made available to most national security roles in an apparent cognizance of their critical function to the security of the nation.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe personally decided he also wanted the CIA to be involved, one of the sources said.
The spokesperson said that the move is part of Ratcliffe’s efforts to “ensure the CIA workforce is responsive to the Administration’s national security priorities,” adding that is “part of a holistic strategy to infuse the Agency with renewed energy.”
Still, even as the offer was sent to the entire workforce at the agency, it was not immediately clear whether all would be allowed to take it. Some specific occupations and areas of expertise appear likely to be restricted, one of the sources familiar with the offer said, suggesting that the effort is far less sweeping than in civil service agencies that are not considered to be doing national security work.
There’s also a caveat for Ratcliffe to retain flexibility to work through the timing of officer departures in critical areas, according to another source familiar with the matter.
USAID staff around the world are being put on administrative leave Friday and ordered to return to the United States, according to an agency directive issued Tuesday night.
As of 11:59 p.m. Friday, “all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs,” according to the USAID website, which was back online after going dark.
“For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential.”
As the name implies, a direct hire is a government official directly employed by the US government, as opposed to contractors who make up a huge part of the USAID workforce. Many of those contractors have already been furloughed and laid off.
CNN reported earlier that staffers were receiving individual emails on Tuesday informing them that they were being put on leave. Then, the agency-wide statement came.
Hundreds of contractors had previously been shut out of USAID’s IT systems and premises before Tuesday.
The statement on the website ends with: “Thank you for your service.”
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
The US Postal Service says it has temporarily suspended accepting international parcels from China and Hong Kong until further notice.
It did not provide a reason for the change.
The announcement comes just days after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that terminated the “de minimis” exemption, a long-standing rule that allowed anyone, including exporters, to ship packages worth less than $800 to the United States without duties or needing to undergo inspections.
It also follows the introduction of a broad-based 10% tariff on Chinese imports to the US, which took effect on Tuesday.
The new rule could also affect e-commerce sites like Shein and Temu, which have built their gargantuan business models around this exemption. The relaxed restrictions and tax exemptions on cheap products have allowed more than a billion packages to pour into the US at low prices for consumers looking for deals on clothing to household goods.
While it is unclear whether the suspension was related to the executive order, experts have told CNN the delivery of international parcels into the US would be “slowed down” if every package must be examined.
Currently, US Customs and Border Protection has the authority to open and inspect all international packages, though in practice it doesn’t open every single item.
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria discusses President Donald Trump’s comments that the United States “will take over” Gaza — possibly with the help of American troops — while the Palestinians who live there should leave, a stunning proposal that would dramatically reorient the Middle East and subject a population of more than a million to further displacement.
Asked Tuesday night about President Donald Trump’s remarks that the US will “take over” the Gaza Strip, GOP senators largely refused to comment as they dashed to-and-from floor votes, including Trump ally Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch.
Others expressed some skepticism.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called it an “interesting proposal” but also “problematic.”
“We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. I think that might be problematic. But I’ll keep an open mind,” he said.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said that “there are probably a couple of kinks in that Slinky, but I’ll have to take a look at the statement.”
“I don’t know what to make of it,” said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. “Check back with me tomorrow, that’s a good idea.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called the idea “crazy, and you can quote me.” He said it would “blow apart the Abraham Accords,” adding that “all the progress that we have made including the brave and costly battles that Israel has waged would be effectively undercut by this crazy notion.”
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democratic on the Foreign Relations Committee, said, “No, I don’t think it’s something that is in America’s interest.”
She added: “This idea, I think it fails to recognize the need to have a Palestinian state, and the fact that until we address the concerns of the Palestinians, there will continue to be conflict in the region.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, another key Democratic member of the committee, also criticized the plan.
“You can put me down as this is between offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish,” he said.
