\n<\/p>\n
President Trump on Friday appeared to back off his demand that some two million Palestinians be permanently relocated from the Gaza Strip to nearby countries in the Middle East so the United States could take over the territory and develop it into \u201cthe Riviera of the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the president said he favored taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave. Over the course of several days, he repeatedly waved aside objections to the idea, including flat-out rejections from the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.<\/p>\n
At the time, Mr. Trump said that he would be able to persuade the leaders of those two countries \u2014 and potentially others in the region \u2014 to accept the Palestinians through the force of his will.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say they\u2019re not going to accept,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cI say they will.\u201d<\/p>\n
But in a telephone interview with a Fox News host on Friday, Mr. Trump seemed to concede that his efforts at persuasion had failed and the refusal by Egypt and Jordan to accept displaced Gazans would make the idea unworkable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWell, we pay Jordan and Egypt billions of dollars a year. And I was a little surprised they\u2019d say that, but they did,\u201d Mr. Trump told the Fox News host Brian Kilmeade before adding: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that\u2019s the plan that really works. But I\u2019m not forcing it. I\u2019m just going to sit back and recommend it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments were a striking reversal for one of the most brazen foreign policy proposals ever made by a sitting president. And they came after weeks of back-and-forth that included several high-ranking Trump administration officials trying to downplay the proposal, followed by the president insisting that he was serious.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump first publicly raised the idea in early February<\/a>, when he declared that \u201cThe U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.\u201d With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel by his side during a White House visit, Mr. Trump said the United States would \u201cown it and be responsible\u201d for disposing of unexploded munitions and rebuilding Gaza into a mecca for jobs and tourism, pledging that it would become \u201cthe Riviera of the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said soon after that any relocation would be temporary. But Mr. Trump followed up with a social media posting suggesting again that Palestinians would be relocated into communities where they would be \u201chappy, safe, and free.\u201d<\/p>\n In the interview on Friday, the president said that trying to redevelop Gaza without moving Palestinians out would be impractical, in part because of the presence of Hamas terrorists, who have ruled in Gaza for decades. He said that a U.S. takeover, and the displacement of Gaza\u2019s Palestinians, would be the best approach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe U.S. would own the site,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019d be no Hamas, and it\u2019d be developed, and you start all over again with a clean plate.\u201d<\/p>\n But he spoke of the idea in past tense, suggesting that he had given up on it.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked my plan. I thought my plan was good,\u201d Mr. Trump told Mr. Kilmeade. \u201cYou get them out, you move them, you build a beautiful community and a permanent community.\u201d<\/p>\n