Trump says he wants US to take charge of Gaza Strip at press conference with Netanyahu

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.

He made the remarks in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier Tuesday, Trump’s Middle East envoy said that a three to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza is not a viable post-war plan for the battle-torn territory.

This first visit of a foreign leader during Trump’s second term comes amid lagging support for Netanyahu in Israel. The Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and the 15-month conflict to end.

Here’s the latest:

Senate confirms Pam Bondi as attorney general

The Senate has confirmed Pam Bondi as U.S. attorney general, putting Trump’s longtime ally at the helm of a Justice Department that has already been rattled by the firings of career employees seen as disloyal to the Republican president.

The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, with only Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, joining with all Republicans to pass her confirmation 54-46.

Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist, is expected to oversee a radical reshaping of the department that has been the target of Trump’s ire over the criminal cases it brought against him.

“Pam Bondi has promised to get the department back to its core mission: prosecuting crime and protecting Americans from threats to their safety and their freedoms,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.

Trump envisions ‘the Riviera of the Middle East’

Trump seemed to slip into his real estate developer mode when he said he envisions people living in a redeveloped Gaza that he said could look like “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

“This could be something that could be so valuable, this could be so magnificent,” Trump said.

He said “most importantly,” the people that live there would be able to live in peace and added, “We’ll make sure that it’s done world class.”

He said he envisioned “Palestinians, mostly” living there but also described his vision for Gaza as “an international, unbelievable place” where “the world’s people” live.

Press conference ends

The joint press conference with Trump and Netanyahu has wrapped.

It went on for about 40 minutes.

Trump suggests he could travel to Gaza

Trump said at the press conference that he plans to visit Israel and possibly make a trip to Gaza.

The new president has yet to announce where his first foreign trip will be, suggesting it could be to the United Kingdom or Saudi Arabia. But Trump said at the joint event with Netanyahu that he would go to Israel and could go to Gaza.

Trump offers few details on Russia-Ukraine talks but says destruction in Ukraine is worse than Gaza

Turning to the other major conflict, Trump said destruction in Ukraine has cities looking “as bad as Gaza, and worse,” but he did not offer details on what kind of peace he’s seeking in that country’s war over Russia’s incursion.

“We’re talking to the Russians, we’re talking to the Ukrainian leadership,” Trump said, without offering details.

He did not answer a question about whether he would demand the Russians leave Ukrainian territory.

Trump says Iran could have ‘unbelievable future’ if it doesn’t develop nuclear weapon

Trump reiterated that he feels Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and said if they get one, “that will be very unfortunate for them.”

But the president said Iran would find it very beneficial if the country can convince him that they won’t develop a nuclear weapon, saying in that case, “they’re going to have an unbelievable future.”

Netanyahu likens Israel’s war with Hamas to the Allies’ struggle against the Nazis in World War II

Netanyahu says lasting peace isn’t possible if Hamas is left standing.

The Israeli prime minister says, “Obviously you can’t talk about peace — either with Hamas or in the Middle East — if this toxic and murderous organization is left standing, any more than you could make peace in Europe after World War II if the Nazi regime was left standing and the Nazi army was left standing.”

Trump suggests that the US could take ownership of Gaza over the long term

“I do see a long-term ownership position,” the president said when asked about the U.S. controlling the region for an extended period.

Trump suggested that the U.S. doing so would promote stability in the region and added, “This is not a decision made lightly.”

“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” he said.

Trump does not rule out sending US troops to Gaza

Trump is not ruling out sending U.S. troops to secure Gaza, saying in response to a reporter’s question: “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

Netanyahu says ‘Israel’s victory will be America’s victory’

Netanyahu says Trump follows through on promises that at first seem unbelievable.

“After the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and say, ‘You know, he’s right,’” Netanyahu said.

He added, that Israel, in its ongoing fight with Hamas, “will end the war by winning the war” and that “Israel’s victory will be America’s victory.”

Netanyahu calls Trump Israel’s ‘greatest friend’

Netanyahu said of Trump, “You are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”

The prime minister opened his comments at a press conference with Trump saying that Trump’s staunch defense of Israel means that his nation’s people have enormous respect for him.

Netanyahu added, “You freed up munitions that have been withheld from Israel.” That referred to Trump lifting a Biden administration pause on shipping 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) bombs to Israel amid concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.

Trump wants US to take ownership of Gaza Strip

Trump says he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after resettling Palestinian people in other countries.

The president did not immediately offer details on how the U.S. would manage the site and what it would do with it.

“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,” Trump said.

He said the U.S. would work to economically develop the area after cleaning out the destroyed buildings.

Trump says he and Netanyahu discussed eliminating Hamas

Trump says he and Netanyahu focused in their closed-door meeting on discussing how Hamas can be eliminated and restoring peace “to a troubled region.”

Kicking off a joint press conference, Trump slammed his predecessor, Joe Biden, saying “nobody did anything for four years” in the Middle East except demonstrate incompetence.

“Unfortunately the weakness and incompetence of those years,” Trump said, triggered “grave damage” all over the globe.

Trump-Netanyahu press conference begins

A joint press conference with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is underway at the White House.

Both leaders met and answered questions from reporters earlier in the Oval Office, before eventually continuing their discussions behind closed doors.

They then headed to a joint press conference in the East Room.

It was so packed with administration officials that some reporters were left without seats and forced to line up on along the sides.

Trump suggests he may be reconsidering his 2020 plan that called for a Palestinian state

President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he may be reconsidering an independent Palestinian state as part of a broader two-state solution to the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict.

“Well, a lot of plans change with time,” he told reporters when asked if he was still committed to a plan like the one he laid out in 2020 that called for a Palestinian state.

“A lot of death has occurred since I left and now came back,” Trump said. “Now we are faced with a situation that’s different — in some ways better and in some ways worse. But we are faced with a very complex and difficult situation that we’ll solve.”

Unions file federal lawsuit to block Trump administration buyout offer for federal employees

A coalition of government-employee unions has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration offering buyouts to millions of federal employees as long as they agree to resign this week.

The Office of Personnel Management has offered to continue paying more than 2 million federal employees through Sept. 30 if they opt to resign.

It said they have to decide by Thursday, though, and promised future layoffs and additional employment requirements for those who remain in their jobs.

Filed in district court in Massachusetts, the suit says no funds have been appropriated for buyouts, and that the deadline to decide on resignation is illegal.