US President Donald Trump (R) in the Oval of the White House in January 2025. Photo: Fortune via Reuters Connect

US President Donald Trump reiterated in an interview this past weekend his intention for the United States to “own” the Gaza Strip while also revealing that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to the enclave under his proposal.

While speaking with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Trump outlined his desire to transform Gaza into a “real estate development” project. The president also explained that the civilians in Gaza would be transferred to “beautiful communities” located away from Israel’s border. 

“We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We will build beautiful communities, safe communities, could be five, six, could be two. But [we] will build safe communities a little bit away from where they are where all this danger is,” Trump said. 

“In the meantime, I will own this. Think of this as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land,” he continued.

Baier interjected, asking Trump if the Palestinians would “have the right to return” to the land.

“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump said. “In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”

Trump claimed that it would take years for Gaza to become “habitable” again in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war, arguing that Palestinian civilians would be better served seeking refuge outside the devastated coastal enclave. The American president said he believes he could “make a deal” with Jordan and Egypt to absorb Gazan refugees, pointing out that the United States gives each country “billions and billions of dollars a year.”

Trump has repeatedly communicated a desire to upend the status quo in Gaza. While speaking to reporters on Sunday before the Super Bowl, he expressed outrage over the emaciated appearance of the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza by Hamas on Saturday as part of the ceasefire deal, saying he does not “know how much longer we can take that.”

“They looked like Holocaust survivors; they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated,” Trump said. 

“I don’t know how much longer we can take that … at some point we’re going to lose our patience,” he continued. “I know we have a [Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release] deal … they dribble in and keep dribbling in … but they [the Israeli hostages] are in really bad shape.”

Trump’s comments echoed sentiments he shared during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week. He referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” and said that civilians there will have “no alternative” but to leave. Trump also called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war there between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which ruled the enclave before the war and remains the dominant faction.

“Look, the Gaza thing has not worked. It’s never worked. And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land. We’ll get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable,” Trump said to reporters last week. 

Trump’s comments regarding Palestinian resettlement have been met with immense backlash, with some observers accusing him of supporting an ethnic cleansing plan. However, proponents of the proposal argue that it could offer Palestinians a better future and would mitigate the threat posed by Hamas.

Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal. Saudi Arabia has indicated that any future normalization agreement with Israel would need to include an end to the Gaza war and the pathway to the formation of a Palestinian state.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, when they invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages back to Gaza while perpetrating widespread sexual violence in what was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

Last month, both sides reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar.