White House: Trump hasn't committed to sending US military to Gaza
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday insisted President Trump has not committed to sending the U.S. military into Gaza after he appeared to float such a possibility during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the day before.
Trump was asked if he was sending U.S. military personnel to secure the territory, to which he responded: "We will do what is necessary," without elaborating.
That led to a peppering of questions to Leavitt during the daily press briefing the next day, in which she rejected the idea that the U.S. would become entangled in another Middle East conflict.
“The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza. He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza. His administration is going to work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region,” she told reporters at the White House.
“The president has not committed to U.S. troops in the region,” she added.
Trump rocked U.S.-Middle East policy on Tuesday by announcing he would back the resettlement of Palestinians out of Gaza and a U.S. takeover of the territory, suggesting it could be turned into a "Riviera of the Middle East."
He was not definitive about whether he believed Palestinians would solely be the ones living in the Gaza Strip, but he said he envisioned a place that would inhabit "the world's people."
Netanyahu was aware of Trump's announcement before he made it public, Leavitt said.
Leavitt spent much of Wednesday's briefing defending Trump's Middle East proposals in Gaza during Netanyahu's visit.
Trump on Tuesday also suggested that Palestinians in Gaza be relocated and settled elsewhere, offering up either one site or a dozen different locations as possibilities.
He also described a potential U.S. takeover of Gaza as “a long-term ownership position.”
The feasibility of such a plan remains in question because Gaza has largely been reduced to rubble in 15 months of war. Trump administration officials estimate it would take 10 to 15 years to rebuild.
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