On Tuesday the President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that the United States would take control of Gaza. The Republican asserted that Washington would oversee a development program designed to create a broad spectrum of jobs and provide housing for people in the area. The framing suggested a path toward stability and a reimagined order in a region that has long been unstable.
During a press briefing, Trump maintained that the United States would assume responsibility for removing dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons, level the terrain, and clear away the destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip. He boasted that the effort would be a genuine job, something different from past approaches. Observers noted the rhetoric signaled a hands-on strategy and a broad plan for reshaping the post-conflict landscape.
He also argued that the displaced Palestinians should be permanently relocated to other areas not affected by the fighting, questioning why they would want to return and saying that “why would they want to go back? That place has been hell.” He delivered these comments at the outset of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was present while the American answered questions from reporters, insisting that no one can live there.
Nobel Prize
He also said that, although he believes he will never be awarded it, he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize for which he had been nominated during his first term (2017-2021). “They will never give me the Nobel Peace Prize. It is a pity. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me”, he told reporters in the Oval Office before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The remarks reflected ongoing debates about the award and his role in the Abraham Accords.
In 2021 a Norwegian parliamentarian, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, proposed Trump as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. In that same year the prize went to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitri Muratov of Russia. Trump has repeatedly cited the Abraham Accords as part of his legacy in foreign policy.
Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday to meet Trump. He was the first foreign leader the U.S. president hosted at the White House since his return to power on January 20, a moment that underscored the enduring alliance between their governments and the symbolic nature of their discussions on security and regional stability.