A diplomatic coup de main or more Trumpian madness? A strategic move like Trump’s threatened tariffs for Canada and Mexico—or a sincere proposal to take over a strip in the Middle East? Depending on who you ask, President Trump’s pronouncements on the Middle East, made in the presence of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could be described either way.
To review his breathtaking remarks: the President of the United States said that his country “will take over the Gaza Strip,” clear rubble and unexploded ordnance, and “develop it” into an Eastern Mediterranean Riviera.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Palestinians could move to a “good, fresh, beautiful piece of land,” possibly in an Arab country such as Jordan or Egypt. He announced that Saudi Arabia would make peace with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, essentially as the United Arab Emirates and three others did under the Abraham Accords of Trump’s first term. And, for good measure, he pledged to reimpose sanctions on Iran, and reduce its oil exports to zero.
“I’m hopeful that this. . . will end the bloodshed and killing once and for all,” Trump declared, and “rebuild American strength throughout the region.”
Bibi beamed. Others around the world recoiled, denouncing what they considered a U.S.-Israel plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, resettle it with Israelis—and maybe enrich Trump or his family—while dispatching U.S. troops into yet another Middle Eastern quagmire.
What on earth could Trump be thinking?
