White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House.
AP/Jan. 31, 2025
The Trump administration does not intend to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, nor has it made any commitment to send U.S. troops there, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday, offering clarifying details a day after President Donald Trump vowed to take over the territory and rebuild it.
“It’s been very made very clear to the president, that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort, to ensure stability in the region for all people. But that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort,” Leavitt said. “It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in a region.”
Trump said Tuesday that he wanted the United States to take over Gaza and rebuild it, proposing a mass displacement for “all” the Palestinians who live there, an idea that has drawn widespread condemnation from Palestinians and Arab nations in the region. He said he would send troops to Gaza “if it’s necessary.”
Leavitt said Palestinians in Gaza would need to be “temporarily relocated,” despite Trump’s suggestion Tuesday after an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the displacement would be permanent.
She said Trump has been “socializing and thinking about” the proposal “for quite some time.”
Leavitt’s comments amounted to a partial walk-back of some of the more extreme elements of Trump’s proposal after the president drew widespread international condemnation for saying he wanted the United States to take a “long-term ownership position” in Gaza and move its residents to a “good, fresh, beautiful piece of land” in another country.
But even a temporary displacement is likely to be opposed by many of Gaza’s residents and regional Arab nations.
