Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on Donald Trump's plan for the Gaza strip

Donald Trump's doubling down on his plan for a US takeover of the Gaza strip. 

Posting on social media, the US President says Gaza will be turned over to the US by Israel when fighting has "concluded". 

He says by then Palestinians will have been already resettled in "far safer and more beautiful communities" elsewhere in the Middle East. 

However, it turns out that Trump didn’t inform some of his top cabinet picks about the idea beforehand, which has lead to some backpedalling. 

The new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio says that the only thing Trump has done is offer the United States’ willingness to step in and clean up the strip. 

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that in direct contrast to Rubio’s words, Trump said that he does see a “long term ownership position” for the US.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stateside Richard I on the morning to you, good morning.
So it was permanent, then it wasn't they own it?
Then they're not. And so it went yesterday.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, and so what happens tomorrow? You know, Now we
find that President Trump didn't bother to tell his top
cabinet peaks about his idea of turning Gaza into the
Mara Lago of the Middle East. So now some in
Team Trump backpeddling a little, and Trump's new Secretary of State,
Michael Rubio says those who thought the Trump Gaza takeover
was crazy and potentially criminal, well they've got it all wrong.

(00:29):
Says Rubio.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
The only thing President Trump has done, very generously, on
my view, is offer the United States willingness to step
in clear the debris, clean the place up from all
the destruction.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
No, that's not the only thing he said. Of course,
Trump spoke of a takeover quote unquote, which would see
the US evicting the two Midian or so Palestidians from
Gaza to somewhere. Are you talking about a permanent occupation there?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
I do see a long term ownership position, and I
see it bringing great stability to that part of the
Middle East.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
So if you are just doing clean up, why would
all the Palestinians need to be forcibly removed from Gaza.
You could clean the damaged areas bit by bit. With
Palestinians staying in the region. Other Arab states could take them,
says Trump, Like Jordan. Well, Jordan already is more than
half Palestinian, and if those numbers are boosted, they could
bring the end of King Abdullah, who is to meet

(01:24):
with President Trump next week. What about Egypt? Their president
our Siesi is engaged in a fierce campaign against Islamic radicalism.
Not in the market for this kind of thing. The
Saudis say, thanks, but no thanks for many Palestinian Ghazan
say this is their land, as they've been saying for
as long as we can remember. Back at the White House,
the twenty seven year old New Press spokesperson Carolyn Leavitt says.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
The President has not committed to putting boots on the
ground in Gaza. He has also said that the United
States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
So who pays for the rebuilding of Gaza and turning
it into the riviera of the Middle East? As Donald
Trump now was taken to calling it, who would build
the resorts and the golf courses and all that other
important stuff Mexico once they pay for the border war.
Maybe the US also has a problematic history, as we know,
with nation building, which Trump often referred to during his

(02:16):
political campaign. We do not seek nation building. We're getting
out of the nation building business.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
No more nation building. It's never going to work.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
We must abandon the failed policy of nation building.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
We are not nation building again.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
We're not nation building.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
We're going to end the era of nation building. A
disastrous concept, a disastrous era.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
What are we doing? What are we doing?

Speaker 2 (02:48):
This could go on. Runk was supposed to be a
nation building effort. So was Afghanistan, and so looking further back,
was Vietnam. So should Washington try this in the most
turbulent region on the planet. Democratic Senator Reuben Diego calls
this absolutely dumb, stuper and ellitals we will now be
occupying Gayzer. A number of Republicans on Capitol Hill echoing

(03:13):
those concerns. Here is one, I'm not supportive of having
the American people pay to rebuild Gaza, the Louisiana Senator Kennedy there,
while another Republican Senator Lindsay Graham calls the Trump proposal
problematic if the new president was just floating some starting
position for the debate. Question would be, of course, what
is the realistic plan?

Speaker 1 (03:33):
And then we come to us best mate, Elon, who's
is everyone resigning? What's happening here?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
We'll find out in a few hours. At the top
of this hour for starters, the US Federal Court judge
will consider a stay on the midnight deadline for numbers
of the federal staffers to quit with pay until September
or face the prospect of being fired with nothing. A
union group calls the Elon must plant illegal and two
percent two percent of the federal workers have agreed so

(04:00):
far on the latest figures, So it affects currently a
foreign aid, the FBI with its list of some five
thousand people apparently who are part of the January the
sixth Trump investigation, the CIA, the Education Department also on
the firing line. Some air traffic experts were involved as well,
but it was found that they were being asked to
quit at the very point when we're seeing this rash

(04:20):
of aviation tragedies, so they decided to keep them on
for a bit. Protest rallies are being arranged. Some Democrats
also are starting to take on must directly the will's
richest man. Of course, we don't pledge allegiance to Elon Musk.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
We are here to fight back.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
No one elected Elon Musk done nothing while a Capitol
Hill committee turned into complete chaos, really made calls for
Elon mush to be subsoened.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
Mister chairman, I think it's outrageous that this committee will
not even entertain order our federal.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
Out of order emotions. So, Mike, it's all going really well.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
There's only four more years. Richard ARRONLD state side. The
other thing was the Panama Canal. Yesterday, the Panama has
denied making changes to allow US government vessels to transit
the canal for free. White House claims that was part
of the move, but apparently apparently it isn't.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
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