WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping statement that he would like the U.S. to take control of and redevelop the Gaza Strip might have sounded like it came from nowhere, but it was in keeping with his new administration’s expansionist ambitions.
Since Trump's return to the White House a little more than two weeks ago, his "America First" approach seems to have morphed into "America More," with the president fixated on acquiring new territory even after campaigning on pledges to keep the nation out of foreign entanglements and “forever wars.”
Trump raised the possibility of the U.S. owning Gaza during a Tuesday press conference at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he envisioned building a resort where international communities could live in harmony.
The casual proposal sent diplomatic shockwaves across the Middle East and around the globe, but was characteristic of how Trump has approached his second term – treating ties with close allies such as Canada and Mexico as largely transactional relationships and viewing the world as one large business opportunity. That view was underlined by his proposal on Monday to launch a U.S. sovereign wealth fund.
He has raised the possibility of the country taking back the Panama Canal, proposed the U.S. wrest Greenland from Denmark and repeatedly suggested that Canada should be absorbed as the 51st U.S. state. Reuters/Ipsos polling shows little public support for these ideas, even in Trump's Republican Party.
At the same time, he has threatened Canada – along with Mexico – with economic penalties if they don't accede to Trump’s border-security demands.
Trump also raised the prospect of a resettlement of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza, suggesting it had become uninhabitable after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas. Human rights advocates deplore such ideas as ethnic cleansing. Any forced displacement would likely violate international law.
At Tuesday’s press conference with Netanyahu, Trump spoke like the real estate developer he once was while acknowledging the hardships the Palestinian residents of Gaza have had to endure.
“You'll make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential and the Gaza Strip is unbelievable,” Trump said. “And I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there, and they'll live there. Palestinians also, Pale...