(WASHINGTON) — Democrats are outraged over President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” and rebuild Gaza — calling the plan everything from “horrifying” to “ethnic cleansing,” while Republicans were supportive, but admitted they were short on details.
“This is an insane proposal, and there’s been a huge backlash already, because the president of the United States was saying that he would use U.S. military force, if necessary, to forcibly remove 2 million Palestinians from Gaza — that’s ethnic cleansing by another name — so that it could be redeveloped,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., told CNN on Wednesday morning, adding that it could be “dangerous” for both the U.S. and the Middle East.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said that Trump is “completely ignoring the sovereignty and the self determination of the Palestinian people who have lived in this place for generations and he’s got his eye on some real estate deal because he thinks the coastline of Gaza is going to be great for some new hotel.” She told CNN that the plan is “horrifying” and “ridiculous,” shortly after Trump announced it Tuesday night during a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In addition to announcing his desire to “take over” Gaza, Trump pushed for Palestinians to leave Gaza and relocate, a suggestion that was roundly rejected by neighbors in the region and from U.S. allies.
Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green announced on Wednesday that he intends to file articles of impeachment against Trump over his proposal.
Some Democrats also asserted that Trump’s comments were meant to distract from Elon Musk being given access to the Treasury Department’s federal payment system and disrupting other government agencies.
“I have news for you — we aren’t taking over Gaza. But the media and the chattering class will focus on it for a few days and Trump will have succeeded in distracting everyone from the real story — the billionaires seizing government to steal from regular people,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on X. He also later referred to the plan as a “bad, sick joke.”
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers were quick to praise Trump’s proposal while also admitting that they weren’t certain of the specifics.
House Speaker Mike Johnson came to Trump’s defense Wednesday morning, calling the president’s surprise announcement “a bold move” while acknowledging he’s waiting on “further details on what exactly that looks like.”
“It’s a bold move, certainly far bolder than what’s been done before, but I think we’ve got to stand unequivocally in an unwavering manner…with Israel, our closest ally and friend in the Middle East,” he said during a press conference at the Capitol.
Earlier Wednesday, Johnson told reporters, “I think this is a good development” and “I think it’s one that we’ll applaud.”
Other Republicans went even farther.
“The status quo hasn’t worked,” Rep. Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee told ABC News. “Two-state solution is the idea of making a state of an entity that would immediately have to be labeled a state sponsor of terror. And so that’s not the solution at all.”
When asked if this means troops would be deployed to the region, he said, “that’s not a guarantee. That’s something that is on the table.”
Other lawmakers were also unclear on whether Trump had deploying troops in mind.
“As far as I know, it’s not troops,” Rep. Byron Donald, a close Trump ally, said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune suggested that the president “wants to bring a more peaceful, secure Middle East, and he’s put some ideas out there.”
He later doubled down on that sentiment, saying, “Look, there are a lot of ideas that are coming out to try to address what is clearly a crisis in that region.”
Lisa McClain, R-Mich., stopped short of endorsing Trump’s plan but told reporters that “it is going to take unconventional wisdom to get us out of this mess that we’re in” and said the president is “throwing everything in the kitchen sink out there.”
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
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