“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and do a job with it too. We’ll own it,” Trump told reporters at his first joint press conference with a foreign leader at the White House of his second term.

After the causality-heavy war that broke out after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, Trump called Gaza a symbol of death and “destruction” and proposed that Palestinians be relocated to nearby Arab states despite protestations. 

“We’re going develop it,” Trump responded about U.S. plans for Gaza while not taking off the table sending troops to the Middle East.

The press conference capped a working visit at the White House Tuesday to discuss future plans for ending the war in Gaza.

Earlier Trump and Netanyahu briefly spoke to reporters in the Oval Office following Netanyahu’s arrival. The president tripled down on remarks he’d made earlier in the day about resettling Palestinians in other Arab countries, while Netanyahu threw a blunt dig at former President Joe Biden, stating Trump deserves credit for brokering the January ceasefire deal.

“We are dealing with a lot of people, and we have steps to go yet, as you know, and maybe those steps go forward, and maybe they don’t,” Trump said of the ceasefire proceedings. “We’re dealing with a very complex group of people, situation and people, but we have the right man. We have the right leader of Israel. He’s done a great job.”

“We’re going to try,” Netanyahu added. “That’s one of the things we’re talking about.”

Phase one of the ceasefire deal brokered by the Biden administration included the release of 33 Israeli hostages and more Palestinian prisoners, in addition to Israel withdrawing from most of Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid, is poised to expire on Feb. 18. The second stage is supposed to include the release of younger Israeli male hostages and Israel agreeing to end the war.

The third phase would mark the end of the war, with bodies being exchanged, Israel withdrawing from Gaza entirely, and the reconstruction of the enclave starting.

Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and national security adviser, Mike Waltz, spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon before Netanyahu’s arrival, where they were adamant that ceasefire negotiations were weeks into the second phase. 

“We’re in Day 17 of phase two,” Witkoff stated before leaving the door open to amending the timeline outlined in the agreement brokered by the Biden administration. Witkoff’s comments marked a departure from Trump’s own previous comments taking credit for the ceasefire and crediting his dispatch of Witkoff to the Middle East following the 2024 election in speeding up negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

“Part of the problem is that it wasn’t such a wonderful agreement that was first signed that was not dictated by the Trump administration. We had nothing to do with it,” he continued.

“There’s a lot of opportunity in the region, and mostly there is real optimism,” Waltz added. “I think we’re on the precipice. We talked about the next round of the Abraham Accords. That’s the goal.”

Before the meeting, the White House referred to Gaza as a “demolition site,” predicting it would take more than a decade to reconstruct the enclave.

When pressed on Trump’s support of a two-state solution and his proposal to resettle Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan, the White House told the Washington Examiner that the president’s priority is ensuring the return of Hamas-held hostages and that the terrorist organization “cannot continue to govern and is out of power.”

“On the relocation, I think President Trump looks at the Gaza Strip and sees it as a demolition site, sees it as impractical for it to be rebuilt within three to five years, believes it will take at least 10 to 15, and thinks it’s inhumane to force people to live in an uninhabitable plot of land with unexploded ordnance and rubble,” a senior administration official said.

According to the official, Trump was also “looking for solutions for helping the people of Gaza have normal lives while the Gaza Strip is ultimately being rebuilt and is trying to look at this in a realistic way.”

Hours before Netanyahu’s arrival, a group of protesters, including former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky and Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker who remains in Hamas’s captivity, demonstrated outside the White House. The protesters called for the immediate release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, chanting the names of the remaining hostages and calling on Trump to “bring them home now.”

Cheryl Silver, a Washington, D.C., resident who attended the protest, told the Washington Examiner that she believes Trump “is determined to have a peace in Gaza” but said she “personally [didn’t] know” if Netanyahu could be trusted to continue moving toward peace.

Michael Jungreis, who traveled from Philadelphia to attend Tuesday’s event, gave a more dour assessment of Netanyahu’s role in ending the war.

“Netanyahu is basically selling the lives of Israelis in order to keep his coalition alive,” he said in an interview. “It’s an unprecedented crime in Israeli history, and it’s all eventually to prevent his criminal trial.”

Ahead of the press conference, Trump sat down with Netanyahu on Tuesday afternoon before the two leaders participated in an expanded bilateral meeting and were to end the day with a White House dinner.

The two men have a strong relationship galvanized by decisions Trump made during his first administration, including recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. Embassy there in 2018. The president, too, acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and negotiated the Abraham Accords.