Trump’s remarks a day earlier sent shockwaves throughout Washington and the Middle East, raising a lot of questions about the plan to “own” the strip and what it would entail.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the plan before a skeptical White House briefing room, saying that Trump is an “outside-the-box thinker” who solves problems that other people think are not solvable.

But she was quickly pressed for more details, such as whether the plan could involve U.S. troops and whether it contradicts Trump’s long-standing stance against nation-building projects abroad.

“I would reject the premise of your question that this could force the United States to be entangled in conflicts abroad,” Leavitt told one reporter. “The president is not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.”

Asked if it would be worth losing a single U.S. Marine to turn the Gaza strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” Leavitt reiterated that Trump has not committed to sending troops to the embattled area.

Later during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump’s newly installed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is “prepared to look at all options.”

“I would just say, to the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again,” Hegseth said.

Another sticking point was whether the relocation of any refugees would be temporary or permanent, with Leavitt promising that relocations would be temporary.

“The president has made clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding effort,” she said at the White House.

Leaders from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the Arab League released a statement condemning Trump’s proposed resettlement of Palestinians as forced “evictions” that they would not allow “in any form or under any circumstances or justifications.”

Trump himself referred to war-torn Gaza as a “demolition site,” a phrase Leavitt repeated, saying it would take more than a decade to reconstruct the enclave.

Leavitt also said that Netanyahu was aware of the announcement ahead of time, contracting some reports that the Israeli prime minister looked surprised upon hearing Trump’s proposal.

Finally, Leavitt pushed back hard against the notion that relocating Palestinians would be inhumane, suggesting that Gaza as it stands today is not habitable.

“Again, it’s a demolition site right now,” she said. “It’s not a livable place for any human being. And I think it’s actually quite evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.

Mike Brest contributed to this report.