Donald Trump elevated his brand of divisive, swashbuckling rhetoric to new heights earlier this week when he declared the United States could ‘take over the Gaza Strip… and own it’ following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The outlandish statement, in which the US President said he could rebuild Gaza to make it the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ while resettling close to 2 million Palestinians in Jordan and Egypt, sparked a torrent of condemnation from the global community.
A spokesperson for the United Nations labelled the notion ‘tantamount to ethnic cleansing’, while leaders of the Arab world decried it as a blatant violation of international law.
What’s more, a US-led takeover of Gaza would seemingly betray an integral part of Trump’s campaign promise and his ‘America First’ rhetoric – namely, to scale down America’s military and political involvement in the Middle East.
But what politicians say and what politicians mean are often two different things.
What appears at first to be nothing more than an inflammatory harebrained scheme at best could conceal a more calculated strategy.
Dissecting Trump’s comments within the broader context of his presidency so far, along with the messaging from his advisers and conservative think tanks, reveals a few approaches the so-called ‘leader of the free world’ may have in mind.
On one end of the scale, experts suggest Trump’s bold proposal may be aimed at pressuring regional parties into taking responsibility for Gaza’s future governance and funding its reconstruction.
At the other end of the scale, some have posited that the US could seek to make Gaza a protectorate, preventing Israel from occupying the land and providing an ‘interim solution to pave the way for self-governance’.
And then, there are those who believe Trump is quite simply setting out to fundamentally reshape international norms, with the US set to profit.
Donald Trump elevated his brand of divisive, swashbuckling rhetoric to new heights earlier this week when he declared the United States could ‘take over the Gaza Strip… and own it’
Palestinians walk through the rubble of Gaza city
Palestinians surrounded by destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip on February 5
In the same way that Trump has leveraged the threat of tariffs to bully Canada and Mexico into making pledges to beef up border security and crack down on drug trafficking, his proposal to take over Gaza could be a harsh negotiation tactic.
Dr Andreas Krieg, a leading expert on the Middle East and Senior Lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, told MailOnline that Trump is likely trying to ‘squeeze concessions from and twist the arms of regional powers’ – a move described by critics as ‘geopolitical blackmail’.
Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are among the states who have roundly condemned Israel’s brutal war in Gaza and advocated for a two-state solution – but their support of the Palestinian plight has not extended beyond political grandstanding.
After the conflict erupted following Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, each nation was quick to refuse any suggestion that they absorb large numbers of displaced Palestinians and have remained quiet about the prospect of rebuilding Gaza.
By floating an idea as extreme as a US takeover of the territory, Trump may be attempting to force those claiming to support Palestine to intervene and prevent such a wild notion from manifesting.
‘He’s trying to make (Arab partners) come to the negotiation table and say, ‘Okay, we’re going to sort this out, we’re going to pay for reconstruction, we’ll take charge when it comes to rebuilding a governance, a structure authority’,’ Krieg said.
‘The Gulf states should come up and say, ‘Look, anything is better than having the Americans go there, and then ethnically cleanse the territory’.
‘It’s the same way he’s doing it with Canada, with Mexico as well. It’s up to them to come up with a plan C. He’s throwing an absurd demand out there that freaks everyone else out. (Trump wants) them to say ‘Okay, let’s try to find a solution that’s somewhere in the middle.’
Donald Trump with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday where Trump outlined an extraordinary new plan for the Middle East, with the United States taking over the war-torn Gaza strip while its Palestinian population is moved to neighboring countries
An aerial view of the destruction in the northern Gaza Strip as Palestinians attempt to move forward following the ceasefire
Former Israeli intelligence officer and regional analyst Avi Melamed agreed with Krieg’s position.
‘Trump’s statement is possibly part of what’s now emerging as his modus operandi – making tough and blunt statements and taking harsh positions to force his adversaries to break from their entrenched positions.
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