By Justin Choi

On Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump declared that the U.S. would take over the Gaza territory and that the U.S. would clean it up. He also said that the Palestinian people would relocate to other countries.

At a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president said, “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.” 

He went on to say, “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.”

It’s been more than a year since the horrific October 7th attack in Israel, and Gaza has been virtually destroyed. The president acknowledged that and suggested that the Palestinians “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts.”

This comes after Jordan and Egypt said they would not take Palestinian refugees.

Following the president’s comments, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to walk back some of the president’s comments by insisting that the president was suggesting a temporary relocation of the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip. 

CNN reported that Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff left an impression to the president that the Gaza Strip was no longer habitable. Witkoff had visited Gaza last week and described the devastation he witnessed to the president. 

Regardless of what happens in Gaza, President Trump will want to get something sorted out quickly.