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. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., called the plan “absolutely dumb, stupid and illegal” while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. called it “dangerous” and “inconsistent with American values.”
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.
Before announcing his desire to “take over” Gaza on Tuesday, Trump had pushed for Palestinians to 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.”
However, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who breaks with his party at times, downplayed the severity of Trump’s calls, saying he didn’t interpret them at face value or as a “super serious kind of a situation,” but rather as Trump “just trying to shake things up.”
Fetterman, a staunch pro-Israel Democrat, also suggested that Trump highlighted some “truths about Gaza.”
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 supported the proposal on 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.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., also said he “doesn’t think” that Trump would use American troops to accomplish his goal.
Few Senate Republicans were willing to back U.S. boots on the ground if that was to be part of the plan.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-S.D., highlighted Trump’s accolades as a developer but was rather explicit that occupying Gaza would be “an inappropriate use of US troops.”
“Well, there’s taking over Gaza, there’s helping rebuild Gaza. Probably need some clarification on what exactly that means,” he said, adding that “obviously, Gaza is not ours.”
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.”
Some Republicans expressed doubt that Trump’s intention is to actually “take over” Gaza, including Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who said, “I think what the president is trying to do is find a path forward. And I think what he wants to do is a peaceful approach.”
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said there might be “kinks in the Slinky” of Trump’s plan.
“What I believe the president is really trying to say is we’ve got to do things differently in Gaza,” Tillis, said. “It may not work out the way he envisioned it or the way he discussed it at a press conference, but I think directionally, he’s on the right track.”
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
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