President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip prompted scoffs and disgust from Democrats on Tuesday — and some consideration from Republicans.
“There’s probably a couple of kinks in that slinky, but I’ll have to look at [Trump’s] statement,” Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters after the president floated the idea of the U.S. occupying Gaza.
Republicans in the Senate didn’t exactly endorse the idea. But they were reluctant to break with Trump — even on a suggestion that could displace about 2 million people, mire the U.S. in war and enrage international allies.
Earlier Thursday, Trump proposed the takeover during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it,” Trump said.
He suggested U.S. occupation could be paid for by “neighboring countries of great wealth,” calling Gaza a “demolition site.” Earlier Tuesday, Trump suggested Palestinians could go live somewhere else.
One Republican senator attempted to explain away Trump’s comments.
“What I heard the president say was that we should provide security and support,” Sen. John Kennedy told NOTUS. “And that rather than having someone spend all the money to rebuild Gaza, we should think about a different venue for the Palestinians.”
Others offered an even more tepid response. Sen. Lindsey Graham said it was “an interesting proposal.”
“We’ll see what our Arab friends said about that, and I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. I think that might be problematic,” Graham said.
There was at least one explicit Republican detractor by Wednesday morning. Sen. Rand Paul, a longtime opponent of foreign intervention, bashed the idea.
“I thought we voted for America First,” he posted on X. “We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood.”
Trump also had one Democratic defender. Sen. John Fetterman said Hamas’ continued control of the region might make Trump’s proposals necessary.
“It’s a provocative part of a conversation, but it’s part of the conversation and that’s where we are,” Fetterman said. “The Palestinians have refused — or they have been unwilling — to deliver a government that provided security and economic development for themselves and how they allowed 10/7 to occur.”
But others in his caucus expressed horror or disbelief at the comments.
Sen. Bernie Sanders laughed in response to a question about Trump’s statement, and Sen. Jon Ossoff said, “It sounds ludicrous.” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said she had “no idea what he’s talking about.”
“Crazy,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal told reporters. “And you can quote me. I mean crazy, but very seriously, deeply dangerous.”
In a series of posts on X, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego called Trump a “warmonger” and dared him to double down on his proposal.
“If Trump is so confident about his invasion of Gaza,” Gallego wrote on X, “He should come to the Senate and ask for an Authorization for Use of Military Force.”
Tuesday’s comments are not the first time that Trump has fantasized about the U.S. seizing Gaza. On his first day in office, Trump implied Gaza’s location is prime real estate.
“It’s a phenomenal location,” Trump said on Jan. 20. “On the sea, the best weather, some beautiful things could be done with it. Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza.”
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Samuel Larreal, Em Luetkemeyer and Emily Kennard are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.