Reading between the lines of Trump's Gaza plan

Politico

05-02-2025

With help from Joe Gould, Eli Stokols, Ali Bianco, Nahal Toosi and Daniel Lippman
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The White House is insisting that President DONALD TRUMP's explosive suggestion that the United States could take over Gaza and relocate millions of Palestinian people should be taken both seriously and literally as lawmakers try to tamper down the idea and allies protest the dramatic proposal.
Trump's plan drew immediate, sharp backlash from Arab countries and Palestinian authorities, as well as assertions from Democratic lawmakers and other international legal scholars that the concept is illegal.
But the backlash isn't giving Trump's team pause. One White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the matter candidly, said the rollout of Trump's suggestion was intentional and not something he just riffed on in the moment. This official also said the swift backlash from Arab powers wouldn't stop the administration from pushing on this idea. 'The initial reaction doesn't always match the finish line. The Colombian president was pretty defiant at first about migrant relocations, but that changed pretty fast,' the official said, referring to the diplomatic stand-off between Trump and Colombia last month on accepting deportation flights.
Some Republican lawmakers are already spinning it in a way that suggests that they aren't actually taking the president literally here.
'I do not know the details of the president's plan, it came out of the blue, it may be a negotiating tactic rather than a real plan but I do not see it as feasible,' Sen. SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) told reporters today.
'Do I expect to have the president suddenly changing the way that he's done things in the past and committing troops? No, I don't. But once again, he's simply making it clear that he would like to see peace in the Middle East, and he's willing to be a player,' said Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.).
Indeed, MIKE WALTZ, Trump's national security adviser, suggested in an interview that Trump's comments could spur other countries in the region to come up with their own plans to rebuild war-torn Gaza. 'The fact that nobody has a realistic solution, and he puts some very bold, fresh, new ideas out on the table, I don't think should be criticized in any way, I think it's going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions,' Waltz told CBS in an interview today.
Democrats, meanwhile, appear stuck somewhere between fuming anger and shock. Sen. ANDY KIM (D-N.J.) bristled at the suggestion of taking Trump 'seriously but not literally' on the plan when we asked him about it.
'I understand people are bending over backwards to try to mitigate some of the fallout from these statements that are made. But he's the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the world. And I can't take what he says literally, if I can't take the words of the president of the United States to actually mean something, rather than needing some type of oracle to be able to explain, I just don't know what to think about when it comes to our national security.'
All the while, U.S. allies and Arab powers are reacting with anger that suggests even floating the plan — literal or conceptually — is causing diplomatic shockwaves. 'My government will oppose any forced displacement of the Palestinian people, support the rebuilding of Gaza, and work urgently towards a two-state solution. Forced displacement would be a serious violation of international law and an attack on the rules-based international order,' Canadian lawmaker CHRYSTIA FREELAND wrote on X. (Freeland is former deputy prime minister and foreign minster).
'It represents a profound affront to the resilience and sacrifices of the people of Gaza,' one Arab diplomat, granted anonymity to speak on the matter candidly, told NatSec Daily. 'This proposal would be seen as an insult to the bravery of a population that has continually rebuilt their homes, schools, and lives in the wake of destruction. Such initiatives undermine the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to live with dignity and peace on their land.'
The Inbox
USAID PROTESTS: Protestors gathered on the upper lawn in front of Congress calling for protections for USAID officers and for the Trump administration to 'let them work,' as the marquee aid agency's future looks increasingly grim.
Our colleague Ali Bianco was at the scene, as protesters bashed Trump, Secretary of State (and acting USAID Administrator) MARCO RUBIO and ELON MUSK. A spattering of signs were visible calling the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a 'criminal organization.'
Democratic members of Congress reaffirmed to the crowd they will fight to protect USAID through litigation and on the Congress floor. But the group of hundreds of people who showed up with signs and upside-down American flags are screaming for a fight — and vowing that next time, it'll be a march on Washington.
That said, it's unclear how much marches and protests will sway hearts and minds about the future of the agency. Democratic strategists who spoke to our colleague Rachael Bade are skeptical that supporting foreign aid is a savvy political hill for the party to die on this early into Trump's second term. And the Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to put U.S. staff in Washington and working at offices around the world on administrative leave.
Related: The Trump administration is targeting 'waste at USAID.' At least one example wasn't USAID by NOTUS' Katherine Swartz.
HAITI MSS WAIVER: The Trump administration granted a critical waiver to the foreign aid pause so that a Kenyan-led multinational security support mission to Haiti wouldn't run out of funding.
The commander of the international force, GODFREY OTUNGE of the Kenya Police, said today at a briefing that Trump granted a waiver to the 90-day aid pause and has continued providing funding to the mission via the Defense Department, per the New York Times' André Paultre and Frances Robles. His statement came as a new crop of Kenyan police officers arrived to support the mission to bolster Haiti's beleaguered national police force.
On Tuesday, The Miami Herald reported that the U.N. lost access to most of the $15 million the Biden administration gave to a trust supporting the MSS, which is deployed in the Caribbean country as it seeks to quell an ongoing onslaught of violence from heavily armed gangs.
U.N. spokesperson STÉPHANE DUJARRIC warned the funding freeze would have an 'immediate impact' on security in Haiti. Only $1.7 million of the $15 million allotted to the trust was spent to date, Dujarric explained, meaning the mission has quickly found itself shut out of a major pool of financial resources.
EAST CONGO PEACE LAPSES: Shortly after the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group declared a unilateral humanitarian cease-fire in east Congo, the group resumed attacks against Congolese positions near Goma.
The U.N. says M23, the largest of the hundreds of armed groups in the mineral-reach region of Congo, is currently backed by thousands of Rwandan troops. Rwandan President PAUL KAGAME has not conceded that Rwandan troops are operating in Congolese territory, but the conflict is poised to become a larger regional conflagration as Uganda deploys troops to Congo.
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THE NEW ADMINISTRATION
CIA GETS FORKED: Even the nation's intelligence agencies aren't exempt from the Trump administration's unrelenting efforts to disembowel federal bureaucracy.
CIA employees Tuesday night were sent a 'fork in the road' email akin to the ones received at other agencies offering them deferred resignation. The CIA claims the objective is to 'infuse the agency with renewed energy, provide opportunities for rising leaders to emerge and better position the C.I.A. to deliver on its mission,' according to a statement from a CIA spokesperson to the Times.
Meanwhile, The New York Times' David Sanger and Julian Barnes report that the agency sent the White House an unclassified email with the names of recent hires stretching back over the last two years. The list included first names and the first initials of last names of a large crop of young analysts and operatives focused on China — whose identities are usually closely guarded.
The moves won't quiet concerns that Trump will seek to punish the nation's intelligence agencies for allegedly working against him during his first term and participating in investigations into his alleged wrongdoing during his first administration.
MORE FSO ISSUES: The State Department has canceled its February foreign service officer test to comply with Trump's 90-day hiring freeze, a State Department spokesperson told our own Daniel Lippman.
State has also suspended testing for Foreign Service Specialist candidates and for candidates of its Consular Fellows Program while the department reassesses hiring requirements, the spokesperson continued.
It's the latest blow for America's budding diplomats. Lippman and our own Nahal Toosi reported last week that whether the incoming April class of Foreign Service Officers can start their training is also up in the air, given the freeze. It'll also likely exacerbate the drain on the Foreign Service; during the first year of the first Trump administration, the number of Americans who took the thrice-yearly Foreign Service exam to try to join the State Department fell by a quarter and numbers have not fully recovered from those efforts to shrink Foggy Bottom.
Keystrokes
CYBER WORKFORCE BILL: House Homeland Security Chair MARK GREEN (R-Tenn.) reintroduced his bill to boost the U.S. government's cybersecurity workforce and promote cyber careers.
At a hearing today, the Tennessee Republican reiterated his support for the Cyber Pivott Act, which would create a scholarship program available to students at two-year degree programs and technical institutions in exchange for their service in local, state or national government. It would also expedite the security clearance process for participants and help mid-career professionals pivot into government cyber work. The bill has the backing of Sen. MIKE ROUNDS (R-S.D.), who has introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
As our own friends at Morning Cybersecurity previewed this morning, the bill received unanimous backing from the House panel last year, and Rounds' support indicates it will at least have a Senate companion. But it remains unclear how much the Trump administration will prioritize cyber policy in the coming years.
The Complex
A STUDIOUS PENTAGON: While other agencies are being culled, the Defense Department has been charged with completing and supporting an ever-growing list of studies, plans and new missions.
As our friends at Morning Defense wrote this morning (for Pros!), the White House has commissioned a gamut of studies and added to Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH's homework list.
These include:
And that's not even factoring in what Hegseth has to do on border security, shipping migrants to Guantanamo Bay and just the regular business of running the world's most powerful military.
Transitions
— ADAM JACKMAN is now director of strategic communications in the FCC's Office of Media Relations. He previously worked as director of digital communications for the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party.
— ALEXANDER KRAMER is now a partner at Crowell & Moring. He previously was assistant chief in the DOJ Criminal Division's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit.
— The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is adding EMILY GRAHAM as chief of staff and BENJAMIN SUARATO as director of advocacy and public affairs. Graham most recently was political, finance, and digital director for Sen. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND's (D-N.Y.) reelect. Suarato most recently was spokesperson and press director at USAID.
What to Read
— NAHAL TOOSI, POLITICO: Trump Is turning out to be a very pro-China president
— KEN OPALO, An Africanist Perspective: On American aid cuts/disruptions
— SINAN CIDDI and ANDREA STRICKER, Foundation for Defense of Democracies: Is Turkey the next nuclear proliferant state?
Tomorrow Today
— Hudson Institute, 8:30 a.m.: A discussion on 'The U.S.-Japan Relationship under New Administrations' with Sen. BILL HAGERTY (R-Tenn.)
— Inter-American Dialogue, 10 a.m.: A roadmap for the protection of independent journalism in repressive countries
— Wilson Center's Mexico Institute and Canada Institute, 10:30 a.m.: North American trade war? The geopolitical impacts for China and the United States
— Wilson Center's Africa Program, 10:30 a.m.: A discussion to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 'Africa: Year in Review' publication
— House Veterans' Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, 2:00 p.m.: VA first, Veteran second: The Biden-Harris legacy
— Georgetown University, 4:30 p.m.: Breaking Latin America's cycle of low growth and violence
Thanks to our editor, Rosie Perper, who should be protested.
Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who is beloved and trusted by all.