Donald Trump's extensive plans to rebuild Gaza "could be a mistake," Dick Morris, who has been an adviser for the president and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Newsmax Saturday.
"While Netanyahu applauded Trump's involvement with Gaza and talked about it, I think it could be a mistake," Morris told Newsmax's "Saturday Report."
Earlier this week, Trump appeared with Netanyahu and outlined a plan to permanently remove all displaced Palestinians from Gaza, with the United States to take control of the war-torn region when fighting concludes.
Friday, the president doubled down on the plan, saying that Israel will give the United States the land, once the fighting concludes between Israel and Hamas.
But Morris said on Newsmax that he doesn't think that plan is "realistic," adding that he has hesitations "for two reasons."
If "Americans are even vaguely involved, the potential for casualties for American troops, I think, is very high," Morris said.
He continued, "I'm not sure it's realistic to expect Israel to pacify Gaza and then for Trump to move in as a civilian developer, basically. But more importantly than that, from a political perspective, there is a long history of activist presidents who have excellent plans for domestic change, who then get distracted — some would say seduced — by foreign activities and lose sight of what the American people want."
He pointed to the late President Woodrow Wilson, who called for domestic reforms and then got "mixed up in World War I, the Versailles Treaty, and the League of Nations."
In a more recent example, Morris said, the late President Lyndon Johnson launched the Great Society to great fanfare and then got "mired in Vietnam."
In Trump's case, the America first movement wants him to pay more attention to the United States and "don't worry as much about other countries," he added.
The matter of the Palestinian refugees has always been a "real hot potato" for the Middle East, said Morris.
"Originally, they were all in Jordan ... and Jordan kicked them all out to Lebanon. And then Lebanon kicked them all out to Gaza," he said.
"Basically, nobody wants them ... So I'm not sure that there really is an end goal here in the negotiation. I agree that this could be a pressure tactic, but I'm not sure where it's going."
Morris also on Saturday talked about the Democrats' outcry about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency's push to cut government spending.
"Elon Musk here is kind of like a duck decoy," said Morris, noting that attacks are being made against him and not the president.
Trump, though is "very wisely" harnessing the force that Musk represents, he said.
"He controls X, the former Twitter," said Morris. "He's very wealthy. He can spend a great deal of money on primary campaigns against recalcitrant Republicans.
"It's how Trump lined up votes for his Cabinet. It's how Trump is lining up votes for his tax changes and his extension of his tax cuts."
Morris said he does think Musk is "doing a good job," including in forcing social media to be more open.
"Social media was a preserve of the Democrats, and now the Republicans are dominating social media," he said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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