Rubio on Trump’s Gaza Strip proposal: 'Make Gaza Beautiful Again'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio weighed in on President Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip, calling to “Make Gaza Beautiful Again.”

“Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas,” Rubio posted to the social platform X. “As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”

On Tuesday, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During a press conference after the meeting, the president floated the idea that the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip.

Trump said Palestinians in Gaza could be relocated and settled elsewhere, and that they should not want to return to Gaza.

He said America would be responsible for cleaning up and rebuilding the destroyed region, but didn’t provide details about who would be able to live there.

“I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place. … I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East. … This could be so magnificent,” Trump said.

He called for countries “of interest with humanitarian hearts” to build “various domains” that could “be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza.” 

The idea reflects a vision put forward by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in an interview last year. The president and son-in-law share a background in real estate development, and Kushner's father is Trump's nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to France.

Democrats slammed the president for the remarks, calling his proposal “ethnic cleansing.” Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said he would be introducing articles of impeachment over the matter.

“Ethnic cleansing is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, when he has the ability to perfect what he says, ethnic cleansing in Gaza is no joke, and the prime minister of Israel should be ashamed knowing the history of his people,” Green said.

Some Republicans have expressed skepticism over whether such a scenario is at all possible given regional dynamics, and noted that any involvement of U.S. troops would likely be politically unpopular at home.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) criticized Trump’s proposal, questioning why the U.S. would get involved and saying “I thought we voted for America First.”

“We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood,” Rand posted to X. Rand’s post was in response to Rubio’s.

But other Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have embraced the idea.

“There’ll be more details forthcoming on that, of course. The initial announcement yesterday, I think was greeted by surprise by many but cheered by I think people all around the world,” Johnson said.

“Why? Because that area is so dangerous. And he’s taking bold, decisive action to try to ensure the peace of that region.”