ANALYSIS — Donald Trump sent a clear signal about his Middle East strategy, and his stunning preference for Gaza and its beleaguered population, by selecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the first world leader to visit the White House during his second term — the latest high-profile move in the U.S. president’s all-gas-no-brakes start.
“I think that we have a combination that’s unbeatable,” Trump said Tuesday of his alliance with Netanyahu as a fireplace roared behind them in the Oval Office, hours before he proposed that the United States could one day “own” Gaza and “develop” the area — although he did not state clearly what presidential authority would allow him to do so.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said during a joint news conference with Netanyahu. “Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. … Do something different.”
