Trump has indicated that the U.S. will "take over" the embattled region. (Left: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Right: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
While delivering remarks alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhyahu on Tuesday, Trump said that Palestinians should be settled outside the Gaza Strip, and that the U.S. will transform the region, which he described as a "demolition site."
"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip," Trump declared, saying, "we'll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site … level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area."
"I do see a long term ownership position," Trump said of the region.
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called Trump's proposal "ethnic cleansing."
"This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal. He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing," she declared in a post on X.
In a post on another X account she declared, "Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bulls--- because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It's time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up."
TRUMP'S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY EXPLAINS GAZA TAKEOVER PROPOSAL: ‘MORE HOPE’ FOR PALESTINIANS' FUTURES
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Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., welcomed the president's remarks.
"This is what the leader of the free world looks like, folks. President Trump campaigned on securing peace in Gaza, and he’s doing just that. Promises made, promises kept — it’ll never get old," she said in a tweet.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rand-paul-recoils-trumps-gaza-takeover-plans-i-thought-we-voted-america-first