White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the Trump administration does not intend to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, nor has it made any commitment to send U.S. troops to the region.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip could be permanently resettled elsewhere and that the U.S. might stage a long-term takeover of the vacated region.
The president also said he wasn't ruling out deploying U.S. troops to support reconstruction of Gaza.
However, during Wednesday's press briefing, Leavitt said Trump did not commit to sending U.S. troops to Gaza nor will U.S. taxpayers fund the rebuilding of the strip.
"It's been very 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. But that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort," Leavitt said.
"It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in a region."
Leavitt said Trump would "work with our partners in the region" with the goal of "lasting peace in the Middle East for all people."
She added that Palestinians in Gaza would need to be "temporarily relocated," despite Trump's suggestion a day earlier that the displacement would be permanent.
Pointing to a photo of the destruction in Gaza, Leavitt said: "This is an uninhabitable place for human beings. Do you really think that families can live their dream in a region that looks like this, with no running water and no electricity?"
The reaction to Trump's remarks among Israeli politicians has been almost unanimously positive and excited. Allies and adversaries, though, swiftly rejected and denounced the president's idea for Gaza.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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