U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., Feb. 4, 2025.
Leah Millis | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Palestinians wouldn’t be permitted to return to Gaza as part of his plan for the U.S. to take ownership of the war-torn territory.
In a pre-taped interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, a clip of which was released Monday, Trump was asked about his proposal to “own” and rebuild Gaza, first announced last week during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House.
“We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities — could be five, six, could be two, but we’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” Trump said in the interview, a portion of which aired before the Super Bowl on Sunday. More clips from the interview will air Monday night.
Trump continued, “In the meantime, I would own this — think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land.”
Asked if Palestinians would have the right to return to the land, Trump said, “No, they wouldn’t because they’re going to have much better housing, much better.”
During his initial announcement last week, Trump said that Palestinians and “many people” would be able to live in Gaza after the U.S. took ownership of it.
Palestinians, who were displaced to the south at Israel’s order during the war, make their way back to their homes in northern Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, January 27, 2025.
Ramadan Abed | Reuters
He said, “I envision the world people living there, the world’s people. You’ll make that into an international unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza strip is unbelievable,” and it could be “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump told Baier he wants to build a permanent residence for the million Palestinians currently living in Gaza, which he said is not currently habitable after the 16-month-long war between Hamas and Israel.
“I’m talking about starting to build and I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt. You know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year,” he said, implying that he could try to build a permanent home for Palestinians in those two Arab countries.
The feasibility of this plan is unclear: Hamas, which governs the region, has said it will not turn over control. Officials from Egypt and Jordan have also repeatedly refused to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza, arguing that the transfer of large numbers of refugees into their countries could risk the conflict expanding even further across the region.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
