Dan Mitchinson: US correspondent on Donald Trump's bid to 'take over' Gaza

There's disbelief and criticism over comments on the Middle East by the US President.

Donald Trump's suggested Palestinians should leave Gaza for Jordan and Egypt - and the US will take over and redevelop the land.

Saudi Arabia says a Palestinian state is needed, and Hamas has labelled the plan a recipe for chaos. 

US correspondent Dan Mitchinson says Trump's plan lacks a lot of clarity - and suggested the US leader was throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business twenty one to five. Dan Mitchison
is stateside for US. Dan Good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey Ryan, good afternoon.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
What are we thinking about Trump and the Gaza plane?
Is this real? How far advanced is it? What are
your takeaways?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
You know? I think there's some clarification going on with
what he said, or at least there's people trying to
spin what he says, saying that he isn't suggesting that
we plant our flag in Gaza, but rather open up
the region to American business. But I think he caught
a lot of people off guard by what he was saying,
and it sounded like he was just kind of rattling
on there. And really, if you listen what he says,

(00:40):
it almost sounds like he envisions the US taking responsibility
for as you just heard, dismantling the bombs and cleaning
up the debris. And he says this is going to
be like the Riviera.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yes, so he's not talking about any kind of military action.
He's just talking about developing Gaza. Who's that He's also
talking about getting rid of the Palestinians. So we're living
there or they will go live somewhere else permanently. I mean,
how's that going to happen?

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I mean, these are all good questions right now. I
mean he's saying that that that. You know, he was
asked after this if Palestinians would have the right to
return to gaz after the reconstruction, and he said, it
would be my hope that we could do something nice there.
He said where they they wouldn't want to return. Maybe
he says, why would they want to return? Right now?
The place has been hell? And I think he said
what everyone else has been saying. That. Also, one of

(01:29):
the side comments he made that he has no idea
or guarantee that that piece is going to hold in
this region. So right now, it just sounds like he's
throwing a lot of things on the wall and he's
seen what's going to stick. Obviously, there's a number of
phases to go on with what is going on over there,
and phase one of the deal that they had was
the release of the Israela hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and

(01:50):
so they're on to phase two right now. But boy,
you talk about headlines for tomorrow. What he said today
in this press conference really really has got people talking.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Certainly he knows how to do that, and people getting
quite exercised about Elon Musk in the White House. What's
the lightst well.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I mean, if you imagine you have a toddler on
a sugar high who has a type of attention deficit disorder,
I mean, that's Elon Musk. I mean, you're not going
to argue right there, and you give the guy an
and she takes a mile. There was a report in
the New York Times and there are people within the
Trump cabinet who are saying, we're kind of concerned because
he's got this sort of unchecked power, this bromance going
on with President Trump, and he's taken a very aggressive,

(02:27):
I guess, and you might say unconstitutional approach right now.
He's been dismantling these government agencies, or at least trying to.
He's trying to shrink our government. A lot of people
think that's a good idea. How he's going about that, that's,
you know, in question right now because none of this
is happening with congressional approval, and that's sort of inviting
us what we're calling a constitutional clash over the limits

(02:49):
of what kind of presidential authority that not only the
president has, but but he can give to Elon Musk
to do what he's doing.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
It's a brimocracy, that's what it is. Dan, Yes, what's
Biden been up to lately?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, he's got himself an agent. Actually, he had this
agent before a few years ago for a Creative Artists agency,
which is what a lot of the big name Hollywood
people have. Former President Obama is wrapped by this agency,
so is his wife. And when he had him the
first time around back and I think it was between
two twenty seventeen and twenty twenty, they published a book

(03:27):
and that was kind of about it. And you look
at what Biden is going to do, and you're kind
of wondering, well, what can he offer? I mean when
President Obama left office, I mean he was working with
Netflix and he had television specials and he went podcasts
and developing. I mean, it might be fun to imagine
Biden as his Hollywood star, but I think really this

(03:47):
agency's going to focus more on publishing books and maybe
some speaking engagements.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
I was going to say the writing would be about
the only thing that he's got, the only avenue he's
got left to tell his stories. Do you know what
I mean? I mean, the idea of a four hour
Ted talk or something just probably isn't practical at this point.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Is that? Yeah, not with us, not with his former president.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Now, Dan, thank you very much for that. Great to
have you on the show. Dan Mitchson, ow US correspondent.
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