STORY: ::Trump commits to US ownership of Gaza,

says he may let Middle East states rebuild

::February 9, 2025

::Air Force One

"I'm committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we're committed to owning it, taking it and making sure that Hamas doesn't move back. There's nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. It'll be... the remainder will be demolished. Everything is demolished. I mean, you can't live in those buildings right now, they're very unsafe. But we'll make it into a very good site for future development by somebody. We'll let other countries develop parts of it. It'll be beautiful. People can come from all over the world and live there, but we're going to take care of the Palestinians. We're going to make sure they live beautifully and in harmony and peace and that they're not murdered. This has been the most dangerous site anywhere in the world to live in."

"But coming into the United States, it's a long way for them to travel. They're far away from their families and their friends and everything else. I think they'd be very happy staying in the general area with a... in a place that was safe where they could be safe and lead a good life. They don't want to go back to Gaza. As I said, I've said it a lot. They only go back because they have no alternative. They don't want to go back to Gaza, so we'll see. We hope there will be help by Egypt. We hope there will be help by Jordan. We hope there will be help by other countries, we hope that some of the - like Saudi Arabia and others - can spend some money on it. They have tremendous amounts of money. They'll spend some money on making people comfortable and safe."

Trump made his remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans to attend the National Football League Super Bowl championship.

Trump also said he was open to the possibility of allowing some Palestinian refugees into the United States, but would consider such requests on a case-by-case basis.