Republican senators left a Wednesday briefing from White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff confused about President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza.
Multiple senators told us Witkoff’s appearance at a closed-door GOP lunch left them with far more questions than answers, giving the impression of an administration with little substance behind its ambitious plan to take control of the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Lawmakers have been wondering exactly what Trump and top administration officials have in mind ever since the president announced on Monday that he wants the United States to “take over” Gaza, resettle the Palestinian population and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump repeated again Thursday on Truth Social that “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting… The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!”
Witkoff’s appearance before the Republican lunch didn’t clear up much beyond asserting that any action to rebuild Gaza would take well over a decade.
“I’d need more information than we got,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told us. “It’s not thoroughly thought out yet within the executive branch.”
We heard from other Republican senators that Witkoff sent mixed signals on whether U.S. personnel would be involved in any operations in Gaza. Some of Witkoff’s assertions received pushback from senators in the room, we’re told.
One GOP senator in the meeting told us Witkoff was “Not very well received at all.”
Witkoff said there would be no U.S. troops or financial involvement in this Trump plan, but then talked about the “American personnel” who would be needed to protect the U.S. investment, according to multiple Republican senators.
“Let’s not talk about who explained it better,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told us. “Witkoff is doing an excellent job.”
Wicker defended the idea of relocating Palestinians during the time it takes to rebuild Gaza. But he clarified that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him on Thursday that he’s not expecting U.S. military or funding to be involved.
Isolationist Republicans quickly recoiled at Trump’s proposal, noting the plan was at odds with Trump’s campaign promises to disentangle the United States from foreign wars.
