World leaders, Middle East experts and Arab-Americans are rejecting Donald Trump's idea for the U.S. to take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Now, the U.S. Secretary of State says Trump actually intended to say that the U.S. will help rebuild the territory.
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00:00The usual veneer of diplomatic decorum hasn't worn away at the United Nations.
00:05But beneath the calm, the body is reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal
00:10to have the U.S. take over the war-torn Gaza Strip after the removal of its population.
00:15The U.N. Secretary General says this can't happen.
00:19Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress
00:25toward the two-state solution, an end to the occupation
00:30and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part.
00:36And the Palestinian envoy to the U.N. says it won't happen.
00:40There is no power on earth that can remove the Palestinian people
00:45from our ancestral homeland, including Gaza.
00:49It's not just the chambers of the U.N. that are pushing back against Trump's idea.
00:54World leaders are reacting with a mix of shock and disgust
00:58and overall skepticism that the suggestion is anything more than bluster.
01:02Germany's president is one such leader.
01:05Such proposals are not only unacceptable by the people.
01:09I don't think they will be a serious basis for the upcoming talks
01:15between the regional actors and the U.S. administration.
01:21Meanwhile, some analysts say it's a plan that could never work.
01:25Well, my first reaction was, that's Trump being Trump.
01:28There's no way in hell that this thing is going to work.
01:31It involves too many moving parts.
01:33One of these parts is domestic politics.
01:36Trump's Republicans may have a narrow advantage in Congress now,
01:40but midterms are just two years away.
01:43And a sizable Arab-American voting bloc that may have been turned off
01:46by former presidential candidate Kamala Harris' Middle East policies
01:49in the last election could be re-evaluating Trump.
01:53This bloc has significant influence in swing states like Michigan,
01:56which was key to Trump's re-election in 2024.
02:00We've seen the Democratic Party do horrible things
02:05and allow Israel to do horrible things.
02:08And so from somebody like Trump, we should only expect worse things.
02:14We were looking to President Trump as someone who is genuinely intent
02:19on achieving long-lasting peace in the Middle East.
02:22You know, that's what he committed to during his campaign.
02:25He signed the peace plaques when he was hosted in Dearborn.
02:29He made a statement to that effect that he is committed to
02:33achieving long-lasting peace in the Middle East and to us as a community.
02:38And some in Trump's orbit are already changing the narrative.
02:41Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Trump actually meant
02:45the U.S. will help with Gaza's reconstruction.
02:48So in the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere
02:51while you're rebuilding it. It is akin to a natural disaster.
02:54So what he very generously has offered is the ability of the United States
02:59to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal,
03:03help with reconstruction, the rebuilding of homes and businesses
03:07and things of this nature so that then people can move back in.
03:10But even if the idea of a U.S.-run Gaza goes away, world leaders
03:14and observers can expect to stay on their toes over the coming years
03:17as U.S. foreign policy looks to be turbulent under Donald Trump.
03:21Patrick Chen and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.