Gaza is Trump’s latest expansionist objective

The shocking declaration made by President Donald Trump that he wants the United States to retake and reconstruct the Gaza Strip may have been unexpected, but it was consistent with the expansionist goals of his new government.

Trump’s “America First” strategy appears to have changed to “America More” since he returned to the White House a little over two weeks ago. Despite campaigning on promises to keep the country out of foreign entanglements and “forever wars,” the president is preoccupied with gaining new territory.

During a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump hinted at the prospect of the United States controlling Gaza. “I wanted to build a resort where people from different countries could live together,” he stated.

Trump has approached his second term by treating relationships with close allies like Canada and Mexico as primarily transactional and seeing the world as one big business opportunity. This casual proposal sent diplomatic shockwaves throughout the Middle East and around the world, but it was typical of his approach. His plan on Monday to establish a U.S. sovereign wealth fund emphasized that opinion.

In addition to proposing that the United States steal Greenland from Denmark and that Canada be annexed as the 51st U.S. state, he has often indicated that the country may retake the Panama Canal. Public support for these proposals is low, even inside Trump’s Republican Party, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls.

Conversely, he has threatened to impose economic sanctions on Canada and Mexico should they refuse to comply with Trump’s border security demands.

Trump also suggested that the more than 2 million Palestinians residing in Gaza may be resettled, arguing that the region was untenable following the roughly 16-month conflict between Israel and Hamas. Such notions like ethnic cleansing are condemned by human rights defenders. It is likely that any forced relocation would be against international law.

Trump, who was once a real estate entrepreneur, acknowledged the struggles that the Palestinians in Gaza have had at his news conference with Netanyahu on Tuesday.

“You’ll turn that into a tremendous, global destination. According to Trump, “the Gaza Strip and its potential are unbelievable.” “And it is my belief that representatives from all across the world will be present and reside there. Palestinians will reside there as well. There will be a large population there.”

Last year, Trump’s former assistant and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, called Gaza “valuable” beachfront property.

Trump was commended by Netanyahu for “thinking outside the box,” but neither leader questioned if Trump’s plans were lawful.

The Atlantic Council’s senior director of Middle East projects, Will Wechsler, said that Trump might not be sincere about the United States having a role in Gaza. According to Wechsler, he could be using extreme stances as a negotiating tactic, as he frequently does.

“President Trump is playing by his usual rules: move the goalposts to gain more leverage before a negotiation begins,” Wechsler stated. “In this case it’s a negotiation about the future of the Palestinian Authority.”

It’s difficult to see a “happy ending.”

Trump’s proposal, however, appears to reject the notion of a two-state solution in favor of a novel approach in which the United States serves as a potential barrier in the area.

The head of the Middle East program at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jon Alterman, a former State Department official, exclaimed, “Wow.” He stated that the voluntary departure of Gazans was unlikely.

Many Gazans are descended from Palestinians who, after fleeing sections of modern-day Israel, were never allowed to return to their ancestral homes. Even if Gaza were destroyed, I doubt many would be eager to go,” he remarked. “I find it difficult to envision a prosperous outcome for the extensive reconstruction of a depopulated Gaza.”

militants from Palestine With the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers in 2005, Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, although the UN continues to consider the enclave to be Israeli-occupied territory. Gaza is under the jurisdiction of Egypt and Israel.

The United nations and the United Nations have long supported the idea of two nations coexisting inside defined, safe boundaries. In the 1967 conflict with surrounding Arab governments, Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, all of which the Palestinians desire to become their own state.

After Trump’s comments on Gaza were repeated to the audience, dozens of demonstrators continued to demonstrate against Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on Tuesday. He is adamantly against a Palestinian state, as is Netanyahu.

“Trump, Bibi belongs in jail, Palestine is not for sale,” the protesters yelled.

When Trump ran for president, he mostly used isolationist rhetoric when discussing the necessity of fortifying borders and putting a stop to international conflicts. He proposed for Europe, not the United States, to play a major role in Ukraine’s struggle against Russia.

Two of his campaign’s main goals have been to reduce the size of the federal government and deport illegal immigrants, which have dominated his early White House endeavors.

His speech was free of expansionism, and Trump and his Republican friends could be at political peril. Voters are not on board, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls.

A January 20–21 Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted after Trump’s inauguration found that just 16 percent of American adults agreed that the United States should pressure Denmark to sell Greenland. Of those surveyed, 29% were in favor of regaining ownership of the Panama Canal.

Only 21% of respondents felt that the United States should have the authority to increase its territory in the Western Hemisphere, and only 9% of respondents—including 15% of Republicans—thought that the United States should employ military action to seize additional lands.