Trump Discusses Long-Term Plan for Gaza and Middle East

President Trump stated on Sunday that there’s no urgency to develop Gaza, framing it as a long-term plan to bring stability to the Middle East.

“Think of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it, and will slowly, very slowly, we’re in no rush, in development. We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East,” he said, according to The Hill.

He referred to Gaza as “a demolition site” and said, “It’ll be reclaimed. It’ll be leveled out, fixed up.”

“There won’t be anybody there. Hamas won’t be there. We’ll be building through other of the very rich countries in the Middle East, they’ll be building some beautiful sites for the people, the Palestinians, to live in,” he added. “They’ll be living in harmony and peace, relatively, for the first time in hundreds of years.”

During his remarks on Friday, Trump stated that Israel would hand Gaza over to the U.S. He also pressed for Palestinians to resettle in Egypt and Jordan, though both nations have already rejecting these proposals outright.

Trump argued his strategy would generate “great stability in the area” and claimed it could be achieved for “very little money.”

Sunday saw another controversial announcement from Trump, who said he instructed the Treasury Department to stop producing pennies.

On Truth Social, he wrote, “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

The U.S. Mint’s annual report highlights that creating a penny cost roughly 3.7 cents in 2024. The coin’s production expenses have exceeded its face value for 19 consecutive years, adding support to Trump’s decision.

Trump also revealed that he had withdrawn the security clearances of certain individuals he doesn’t respect, expanding on his earlier announcement regarding President Biden’s clearance.

“There are people that we don’t respect, if there are people that we thought that were breaking the law, that came very close to it in previous years, we do it. And we’ve done it with some people,” Trump stated.

He confirmed he revoked New York Attorney General Letitia James’s clearance, along with former Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Speaking about the former president specifically, Trump said, “We’ve done it with Biden himself. We think our country is not as safe when you gave him clearance.”

“We don’t think he knows what he’s doing and what he’s done to this country is a disgrace, and what he’s done in terms of allowing criminals, murderers, drug lords into our country, people from mental institutions into our country, he should be ashamed of himself,” he continued.

The President’s comments didn’t stop there. Trump once again expressed his desire for Canada to become the 51st state of the United States.

“I love the people of Canada. We have a great relationship, but if they became our 51st state, it would be the greatest thing they could ever do,” he remarked to reporters.

“And think of how beautiful that country would be without that artificial line running right through it. Somebody drew it many years ago with a ruler, just a line.”

Canadian leaders, however, have consistently rejected the idea of joining the U.S. Despite this, Trump reiterated his position during an interview on Fox News with Bret Baier.

Speaking about Canada, Trump said, “I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state.”

He justified his reasoning with financial figures, claiming, “Because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen, it’s too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada? Now if they are a 51st state, I don’t mind doing it.”

Adding further pressure, Trump stated that something needed to change regarding U.S.-Canada trade relations, and hinted at future action, saying, “something has to happen” within the next 30 days after he had agreed to a one-month tariff pause.