On the menu today: Just when you thought the U.S. government under President Trump was out of the foreign-aid business, he announces that the U.S. will “take over the Gaza Strip,” and “take a long-term ownership position” as well as being “responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” and if necessary, the U.S. will send military forces to secure the Gaza Strip.
Move Over, Greenland. Trump Sets Sights on Gaza
Hey, remember 24 hours ago, when I said we shouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater regarding U.S. Agency for International Development? And remember how everyone and their brother called me “incredibly stupid” and an agent of the deep state, and how I was just too dim-witted to understand that the American government was getting out of the foreign-aid business?
Well, never mind, because yesterday, President Trump announced the U.S. government is going to rebuild Gaza. This is going to make the money spent on USAID look like the change behind the couch cushions.
(No, really, the total budget of USAID last year was $44 billion; one estimate calculated “rebuilding Gaza could cost far more than $80 billion, when taking into account hidden expenses like the long term impact of a labor market devastated by death, injury and trauma.” United Nations Development Program administrator Achim Steiner also estimated the rebuilding cost at around $80 billion.)
President Trump, Tuesday afternoon, in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job, do something different.
Hey, all Joe Biden sent was a pier!
Trump hopes that other countries in the region will help pay for it, too:
“This can be paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth it could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, twelve. It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site. But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace.”
Hey, remember how President Trump kept insisting he would end the forever wars? Well never mind, because U.S. troops will be sent in to ensure security in Gaza during the reconstruction.
Q: Can a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia be achieved without the acknowledgement of a Palestinian state? That is a question for you, too, Mr. Prime Minister. And Mr. President, given what you’ve said about Gaza, did the U.S. send troops to help secure uh the security vacuum?
Trump: So Saudi Arabia is going to be very helpful, and they have been very helpful they want peace in the Middle East it’s very simple. We know their leader and their leaders very well. They are wonderful people and they want peace in the Middle East. As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that piece. We’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of.
Later in the press conference:
Q: Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, you are talking tonight about the United States taking over a sovereign territory. What authority would allow you to do that are you talking about a permanent occupation there? Redevelopment? And Mr. Prime Minister, do you see this idea as a way to expand the boundaries of Israel and to have a longer peace even though the Israeli people know how important that land is to you and your citizens, just as the space is inherited by the Palestinians as well?
Trump: I do see a long-term ownership position and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East. And everybody I’ve spoken to – -this was not a decision made lightly — everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land. Developing and creating thousands of jobs, with something that will be magnificent, in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody can look, because all they see is death and destruction and rubble and demolished buildings falling all over — just a terrible site. I’ve studied it. I’ve studied this very closely over a lot of months, and I’ve seen it from every different angle, and it’s a very, very dangerous place to be and it’s only going to get worse. And I think this is an idea that’s gotten tremendous — and I’m talking about from the highest level of leadership — gotten tremendous praise and if the United States can help to bring stability and peace in the Middle East.
Yes, Trump announced that the U.S. government is taking “a long-term ownership position” of the Gaza Strip and is willing to use military force if necessary.
Attention, neoconservatives: If it lasts more than four hours, consult your doctor.
Standing alongside him, Bibi Netanyahu was, like, “Hey, sure, why not? Let’s roll with it, let’s see where it goes”:
I mentioned again tonight our three goals and the third goal is to make sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again. President Trump is taking it to a much higher level. He sees a different, he sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so many attacks against us, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it were it’s worth paying attention to this. We’re talking about it. He’s exploring it with his people with his staff. I think it’s something that could change history and it’s worthwhile.
Remember, “everybody” Trump “has spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” I don’t want to see any of you RINOs or squishes or elite Georgetown cocktail party “muh principles” so-called conservatives expressing doubts about this plan.
Trump has spoken; the matter is settled. It is time to MAGA: Make America Gaza’s Administrator. Mar-a-Gaza is happening*.
And don’t give me any guff about “Trump needs Congress to agree” or this “where in the Constitution does it give the president the power to annex foreign territories” nonsense.
A Congress that can sign off on Robert F. Kennedy running the Department of Health and Human Services or Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence can certainly sign off on President Trump sending the military to conquer, occupy, and take “a long-term ownership position” of Gaza. Senate Republicans, you’ve been nodding in agreement at the president’s proposals more frequently and enthusiastically than a bobblehead doll; it’s far too late to start acting like a coequal branch of government now. You’re not here to govern, you’re here to agree.
It’s just a shame that it took so long — reticent and cautious previous Republicans like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney just didn’t have the nerve, the ambition, the vision, to do what needs to be done to ensure America’s interests in the Middle East.
Look, last year’s presidential election was a referendum. A referendum on whether Americans wanted their government to solve the Middle East conflict by sending military forces to conquer and occupy the some of the most disputed territory on earth. The American people voted yes. You remember Trump talking about this on the trail, over and over again, right? “Vote for me, and I promise you, I will annex the Gaza Strip”?
*As much as I wish I had thought of it myself, the “Mar-a-Gaza” nickname is courtesy of our Thérèse Shaheen.
ADDENDUM: No sarcasm in this section; you absolutely need to read our Abigail Anthony and her jaw-droppingly bizarre tale of a California landlord’s fatal stabbing, a Border Patrol shooting, and a twisted transgender cult. It includes extreme veganism, AI worshippers, potential faked deaths, home arsenals, and a slew of still-unanswered questions.
It makes Twin Peaks look like Mayberry.