Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Less than a day after President Donald Trump sent heads spinning around the world by saying that the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip and potentially use American troops to do it, the White House seemed to walk back some of Trump’s shocking “takeover” plan.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said during her daily briefing with reporters that Trump only expected allies in the region like Egypt and Jordan to accept the 2.1 million Gaza residents “temporarily so that we can rebuild their home.”
“I can confirm that the President is committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating those who are there, because … it is a demolition site. There is no running water. There is no electricity. The President wants these individuals to live in peace. He is committed to doing that with this very bold new plan, and we will continue to keep you apprised of updates as we receive them,” she said.
Leavitt’s statement that any relocation of Palestinians currently in Gaza would not be a permanent displacement was a 180-degree reversal from what Trump had said during a press conference on Tuesday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In comments that sent Middle East experts’ heads spinning, Trump said the U.S. will “take over” Gaza, displacing the 2.1 million Palestinians living there while the territory is rebuilt as “the Riviera of the Middle East.” Some officials have decried the proposal as amounting to ethnic cleansing under international law.
Pressed on those comments as she addressed reporters, Leavitt tried to clarify his statement by saying that there is currently no plan to put American boots on the ground there, nor would American taxpayers foot the bill for reconstructing the territory he has described as “a demolition site.”
She justified Trump’s plan by calling it evidence of how he is “committed to eliminating Hamas and securing a lasting peace for the entire region” and called it a “historic proposal” that “underscores” Trump’s commitment.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. President Trump is an outside of the box thinker and a visionary leader who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable,” she said.
Leavitt also told reporters that Trump had been working to formulate the plan, which was met with harsh condemnation from across the Arab world overnight and skepticism from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, for some time.
But when pressed on the matter further, she said it had been initially “written in the President’s remarks last night as he revealed it to the world and to the American people” and stressed that Trump’s team is “continuing to be engaged” towards making it a reality.
The president’s shocking proposal to put the Gaza Strip — territory that Israel has occupied since the end of the 1967 Six-Day War — under American control came at the start of a madcap marathon press conference in the East Room following a bilateral meeting with Netanyahu, the first foreign leader Trump has hosted since returning to the White House last month.
He claimed that “everybody” he had spoken to about the plan “loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent.”
“I’ve studied this very closely over a lot of months, and I’ve seen it from every different angle, and it’s a very, very dangerous place to be, and it’s only going to get worse. And I think this is an idea that’s gotten tremendous … praise. And if the United States can help to bring stability and peace in the Middle East, we’ll do that,” he added.
His comments have drawn widespread criticism around the world, with Saudi Arabia saying it “unequivocally rejected” the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, and Hamas branding the idea “ridiculous and absurd.”
