Mr. Trump is said to have thought about a plan to take over and rebuild Gaza, but his recent announcement has shocked the public.
Officials of President Donald Trump's administration are said to be rushing to grasp the situation and somewhat "put out the fire" after the White House owner's statement about the idea of the US taking over Gaza to rebuild this strip of land.
Originated from Mr. Trump himself
CNN quoted informed sources as saying that Mr. Trump's idea had been incubated for a while and appeared to have been proposed by the president himself, rather than being gradually built by a team of experts and advisors and finally presented to the White House owner.
Officials said the decision partly reflected the stalemate, with no country offering a reasonable solution to the problem of rebuilding Gaza if the conflict ended. But Trump’s announcement of the idea, reading from a memo, shocked the political world at home and abroad, even though many of his own advisers were unaware of the idea.
Trump's 'shocking' proposal to take over Gaza: Many countries condemn, subordinates defend
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Gaza last week, returned to Washington and reported to Trump and reporters that Gaza was no longer a place to live.
“These are buildings that could collapse at any moment. There are no utilities there, no water, no electricity, no gas, nothing. God knows what kind of disease could be raging there. So when the president talks about cleaning this place up, he’s talking about making this place habitable. This is a long-term plan,” Witkoff told reporters on Feb. 4. Meanwhile, US national security adviser Mike Waltz said Trump may have been thinking about a post-war plan for Gaza as early as the fighting broke out on Oct. 7, 2023.
Rubble from a church in Gaza destroyed in air strikes
In conversations with aides, Trump lamented the lack of concrete plans from other parties in the Middle East to rebuild Gaza. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been thinking about the idea for a long time, but it had not been put into writing at the time of Trump’s Feb. 3 announcement.
News of Mr. Witkoff's visit to Gaza more or less influenced Mr. Trump's decision, but White House officials, even the Israeli side, did not think the US leader would make such an early statement, while lacking a detailed plan, according to The New York Times .
US Secretary of State “watched TV to find out”
Some cabinet members and Republican lawmakers were surprised by the news. The Gaza idea was not mentioned by Trump in a closed-door meeting with Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.
CNN reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio first heard about the idea of taking over Gaza while watching a TV news conference of Mr. Trump after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Much of the information and work on the Middle East issue is said to have been transferred to Steve Witkoff, so Mr. Rubio's work related to the region has been significantly reduced. On February 5, Mr. Rubio explained that the US president has no hostile intentions and the plan to relocate people in Gaza is only temporary while the rubble is cleared after more than a year of fighting.
On the Israeli side, it is unclear what information Prime Minister Netanyahu heard during the meeting with Mr. Trump, but US media reported that the smile on Mr. Trump's face when he made the statement somewhat showed that the Israeli leader liked what he heard.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer press conference on February 4
Gaza is a "golden location" for real estate?
In several discussions last year, Mr. Trump repeatedly emphasized the value of the Gaza Strip’s coastline, saying it was a prime location for real estate development. Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as an adviser in the White House during Mr. Trump’s first term, also called the Gaza waterfront “very valuable.”
After Mr. Trump took office, the US President also hinted at his plans for Gaza. “It’s a great location, with a great coastline, great weather. Everything is good. Some beautiful things can be done here,” Mr. Trump said after being sworn in, affirming that he would build Gaza into a place of “world-class and amazing.”
However, not ruling out the possibility of sending troops to Gaza for the construction plan goes against the long-standing stance of Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly criticized US involvement in foreign countries and wants to gradually withdraw US troops home.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tu-dau-ong-trump-dua-ra-tuyen-bo-tao-bao-ve-tiep-quan-gaza-185250206105040021.htm
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