WH rushes to manage fallout from Trump's Gaza takeover plan

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2025. (Photo/AFP)

America's top diplomat and the White House have contradicted US President Donald Trump's suggestions that millions of Palestinians in Gaza could be permanently displaced elsewhere and that the US could deploy troops to the besieged enclave.

"The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her briefing with reporters on Wednesday.

She also said the rebuilding of Gaza would not be paid for by the United States and that US troops were not likely to be sent.

"It's been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people," she said.

However, "that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza; it does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort."

She said Trump has been "very clear" that "he expects our partners in the region, particularly Egypt and Jordan, to accept Palestinian refugees, temporarily, so that we can rebuild their home."

"It's a demolition site right now. It's not a livable place for any human being," she said.

That contradicted Trump, who said on Tuesday night of Gaza, "If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what's happening in Gaza."

On Wednesday morning, Trump repeated his shock proposal for the US to take over Gaza and turn it into a tourist destination, despite a resounding rejection by Palestine, Middle East leaders and governments around the world.

"Everybody loves it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the reaction to his plan. He then said it was "not the right time" for further questions as he was overseeing the swearing-in of new US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

'Not meant as a hostile move'

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump's proposal to take "ownership" of Gaza and redevelop the area into "the Riviera of the Middle East" was a "generous" offer.

"It was not meant as a hostile move," Rubio told reporters on a visit to Guatemala. "It was meant as a, I think, a very generous move." He said it is "akin to a natural disaster" and people can't live there because there are unexploded munitions, debris and rubble.

"In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it," the top diplomat said.

Trump wants to support "rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in," he added.

Leavitt said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "was indeed" aware of Trump's plan for the US to take "ownership" of Gaza before he publicly announced it.

Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters that she was not present to witness Netanyahu's reaction to Trump's plan but said "this is something the president has been socialising and thinking about for quite some time."