US President Donald Trump expressed his views on foreign policy matters on February 9, aboard the presidential aircraft “Air Force One”. Trump reiterated his plans to “redevelop” the Gaza Strip, stating that he considers the war-torn enclave as a “great real estate site”. The primary goal, according to Trump, is to ensure that the Hamas does not return.
Trump was on board the “Air Force One” on Sunday, accompanied by his entourage, a group of reporters and journalists, as he flew from Florida to New Orleans for the “Super Bowl”, the national football championship’s final match. Apart from discussing Canada, the Ukraine war and the live signing of the proclamation declaring February 9, 2025, as the “Gulf of America Day”, Trump also addressed questions regarding the Gaza war, in reference to his statements from the previous week.
Trump stated, as quoted by CNN, “I think it’s a big mistake to let the people – the Palestinians or the people who live in the Gaza Strip – to go back again and we don’t want the Hamas to come back. Consider it as a big piece of land that belongs to the United States and that we will slowly – very slowly, we’re not in a hurry – develop. We will bring stability to the Middle East soon.”
Trump again referred to the Gaza Strip as a “demolition site” that needs to be “evened out” and “put in order”, explaining, “I’m determined to buy the Gaza Strip and take possession of it.”
The remaining people living in the Gaza Strip, according to the US President’s vision, are to leave the area. According to the United Nations, nearly 1.9 million people in the Gaza Strip, approximately 90% of the population, have been internally displaced, with some of them having to flee multiple times and now living in areas without adequate infrastructure for their needs.
German Chancellor Scholz stated on the topic during the TV duel, “The relocation of the population is not acceptable and against international law.” He found Trump’s plans and the term “Riviera of the Middle East” in the face of the incredible destruction in the Gaza Strip as “terrible”. Merz commented, “But one has to wait and see what is really meant and how it will be implemented. There is likely a lot of rhetoric involved.”
The news agency Reuters quoted Trump as saying, “There’s nothing to go back to. The place is a demolition site. The rest will be demolished. Everything will be demolished.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already viewed Trump’s controversial plans as “revolutionary, creative vision” during his US visit last week. At a cabinet meeting on Sunday after his return from the United States, Netanyahu stated that his visit and the talks with the US President “will bring additional enormous achievements that can guarantee Israel’s security for generations”, as reported by CNN.
During the meeting, Netanyahu told his cabinet that Trump presented a “different, much better vision for the day after the conflict in the Gaza Strip”. According to Al Jazeera, Trump stated on board the “Air Force One” that the displaced people would “prefer not to return to the Gaza Strip, although his proposal had been rejected by Palestinian representatives and a majority of the international community. The US President further elaborated, “If we can give them a home in a safer area – the only reason they speak of returning to the Gaza Strip is that they have no alternative. If they have an alternative, they will not return to the Gaza Strip.”
High-ranking Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya described the plans as “doomed to fail”. The Hamas will know how to prevent this, as he stated in Tehran, “We will bring them down, just like we brought down the projects before them.