Analysis-Trump's Gaza stunner builds on his expansionist aims

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping statement that he would like the U.S. to take control of and redevelop the Gaza Strip might have sounded like it came from nowhere, but it was in keeping with his new administration’s expansionist ambitions. 

Since Trump's return to the White House a little more than two weeks ago, his "America First" approach seems to have morphed into "America More," with the president fixated on acquiring new territory even after campaigning on pledges to keep the nation out of foreign entanglements and “forever wars.”

Trump raised the possibility of the U.S. owning Gaza during a Tuesday press conference at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he envisioned building a resort where international communities could live in harmony.

The casual proposal sent diplomatic shockwaves across the Middle East and around the globe, but was characteristic of how Trump has approached his second term – treating ties with close allies such as Canada and Mexico as largely transactional relationships and viewing the world as one large business opportunity. That view was underlined by his proposal on Monday to launch a U.S. sovereign wealth fund.

He has raised the possibility of the country taking back the Panama Canal, proposed the U.S. wrest Greenland from Denmark and repeatedly suggested that Canada should be absorbed as the 51st U.S. state. Reuters/Ipsos polling shows little public support for these ideas, even in Trump's Republican Party.    

At the same time, he has threatened Canada – along with Mexico – with economic penalties if they don't accede to Trump’s border-security demands.

Trump also raised the prospect of a resettlement of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza, suggesting it had become uninhabitable after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas. Human rights advocates deplore such ideas as ethnic cleansing. Any forced displacement would likely violate international law.

At Tuesday’s press conference with Netanyahu, Trump spoke like the real estate developer he once was while acknowledging the hardships the Palestinian residents of Gaza have had to endure.

“You'll make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential and the Gaza Strip is unbelievable,” Trump said. “And I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there, and they'll live there. Palestinians also, Palestinians will live there. Many people will live there."

Trump's son-in-law and former aide, Jared Kushner, last year described Gaza as "valuable" waterfront property.

Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box,” but neither leader addressed the legality of what Trump was proposing. 

But Trump may not be serious about a U.S. stake in Gaza, said Will Wechsler, senior director of Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council. He may be doing what he often does, taking extreme positions as a bargaining strategy, Wechsler said.

“President Trump is following his regular playbook: shift the goalposts to increase his leverage in anticipation of a negotiation to come,” Wechsler said. "In this case it’s a negotiation about the future of the Palestinian Authority."

HARD TO SEE A 'HAPPY ENDING'

But Trump’s suggestion would seem to dismiss the idea of a two-state solution in favor of some sort of new paradigm that involves the U.S. perhaps serving as a buffer in the region. 

“Wow,” said Jon Alterman, a former State Department official who now heads the Middle East program at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies. Gazans were unlikely to voluntarily leave the region, he said.

“Many Gazans descended from Palestinians who fled parts of present-day Israel and have never been able to return to their previous homes. I’m skeptical many would be willing to leave even a shattered Gaza,” he said. “It's hard to me to imagine a happy ending for a massive redevelopment of a depopulated Gaza.” 

Palestinian militants Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007 after Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005, but the enclave is still deemed Israeli-occupied territory by the United Nations. Israel and Egypt control access to Gaza.

The United Nations and the United States have long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.

Dozens of protesters gathered near the White House on Tuesday to protest Netanyahu's visit, with the demonstrations continuing after Trump’s remarks on Gaza were relayed to the crowd. Netanyahu steadfastly opposes a Palestinian state.

"Trump, Bibi belong in jail, Palestine is not for sale," the demonstrators chanted. 

As a presidential candidate, Trump largely spoke in isolationist terms about the need to end foreign wars and strengthen borders. He suggested Europe largely take on the cause of Ukraine in its war with Russia rather than the United States.

His early efforts in the White House have largely been focused on deporting migrants in the country illegally and shrinking the size of the federal government – two tenets of his campaign agenda.

Expansionism was not part of his rhetoric and there may be some political risk for Trump and his Republican allies. According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, voters are not on board.

Just 16% of U.S. adults supported the idea of the U.S. pressuring Denmark to sell Greenland in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on Jan. 20-21 following Trump's inauguration. Some 29% supported the idea of retaking control of the Panama Canal.

Just 21% agreed with the idea that the U.S. has the right to expand its territory in the Western Hemisphere and just 9% of respondents, including 15% of Republicans, said the U.S. should use military force to secure new territories.

(Reporting by James Oliphant, additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Michelle Nichols, Humeyra Pamuk, Kanishka Singh and Phil Stewart; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)