President Donald Trump‘s latest pitch for Gaza is to turn the war-torn Palestinian territory into a ‘freedom zone.’
Trump made the pitch Thursday morning in front of business leaders in Doha, during this week’s three-country tour of the Middle East.
Qatar has been the host site of Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks.
Arab leaders had previously bristled at Trump’s suggestion to turn Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’ as the president gave an imprecise answer on what would happen to the Palestinians living there.
‘I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,’ Trump said Thursday morning. ‘I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.’
Trump’s original pitch to turn Gaza into a ‘Riviera’ – as opposed to a Palestinian state – led Arab leaders to call an emergency meeting in Cairo to come up with their own plan.
The president had made the pitch on February 4, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first world leader he summoned to the White House after inauguration day.
A subsequent AI video of ‘Trump Gaza’ included imagery of Trump and Netanyahu sunning themselves shirtless at a resort in the Palestinian territory.
President Donald Trump has a new pitch for Gaza
The Cairo meeting produced a plan to rebuild Gaza – but it didn’t address a pivotal problem – what would happen to Hamas.
The Palestinian terror group rules the territory and orchestrated the brutal October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, which started the current war.
Ahead of Trump’s trip to the Middle East, Hamas released the final living Israeli-American hostage, Edan Alexander, with the aim of getting a ceasefire deal and aid into Gaza.
Netanyahu has been resistant, saying there is ‘no way’ Israel would halt the war before Hamas is defeated.
The war has also prevented Trump from accomplishing a goal that’s close to him.
He would like to see Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords – which were signed during his first time to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain. Several other countries have signed on since.
Saudi Arabia’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was among those who slapped down Trump’s ‘Riviera’ idea – and has said that the kingdom won’t join the Abraham Accords until steps are taken to turn Gaza into a permanent Palestinian state.
Still, during Trump’s stop in Saudi on Tuesday, the president again called on Saudi to join the accords – though acknowledged that would have to happen on the country’s own timeline.
Trump has a variety of ideas on how to develop war-torn Gaza
Trump’s trip took him through Saudi Arabia and onto Qatar. He’ll leave Thursday afternoon for the United Arab Emirates.
He’s expected to return to Washington, D.C. on Friday, but on Thursday morning said there’s still a possibility he could fly to Turkey to take part in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
