By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal that the U.S. take over the war-torn Gaza Strip prompted confusion and skepticism from some of his fellow Republicans on Wednesday, while others backed his “bold, decisive” idea.
Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, Trump proposed the U.S. “take over Gaza” and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The idea prompted international condemnation and some dissent from Republicans in Congress, who have largely fallen in line behind Trump’s initiatives such as pausing foreign aid and eliminating thousands of federal workers.
Skeptical lawmakers said they still favored the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians that has long been a foundation of U.S. diplomacy. Some also rejected the idea of spending U.S. taxpayer dollars or sending in U.S. troops to a region that has been devastated by more than a year of war.
“I thought we voted for America first,” Republican Senator Rand Paul said on X.com. “We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood.”
Republicans hold narrow majorities in Congress over Democrats, who rejected the idea outright. “That is ethnic cleansing by another name,” Senator Chris Van Hollen said on MSNBC.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran said the idea of a two-state solution cannot just be thrown out. “It’s not something that can be unilaterally decided,” he told reporters.
Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would not speculate about any possible proposal to send U.S. forces into a region “that has seen enough turmoil.”
“I don’t even want to speculate to that question, because I think that is quite frightening,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson praised the plan as “bold, decisive action to try to secure the peace of that region.”
‘WE’LL STAND WITH THE PRESIDENT’
Johnson said he would discuss the issue with Netanyahu when he meets with him at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday.
“I think people understand the necessity of it, and we’re going to stand with Israel as they work towards this goal. And we’ll stand with the President on his initiative,” Johnson told a news conference.
Trump campaigned on pledges he would avoid new foreign entanglements and “forever wars,” and Reuters/Ipsos polling shows limited appetite for his newly expansionist agenda, even among Republican voters.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Jan. 20-21, following Trump’s inauguration but before latest comments on Gaza, found that just 15% of Republicans supported the idea of the U.S. using military force to obtain new territory.
Representative Tim Burchett, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he supported Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should develop valuable Gaza waterfront property.
“I think Americans and capitalism have a real opportunity to cause some real change in the world, and that would be a perfect example of that,” he told Reuters.
Senate Majority Leader Jon Thune said he favored “bringing peace and stability and security to that region,” but that every idea would have to be thoroughly vetted.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Gabriella Borter and David Morgan; editing by Humeyra Pamuk and David Gregorio)
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