President Trump’s real intentions with his Gaza proclamation were hidden within the near-smirk restrained by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the joint announcement of how the U.S. would take over and redevelop Gaza.  “We will own it!” was Trump’s declaration.

And, of course, this is nonsense.  There is no way that Trump would ever commit treasure and troops into the Middle East without the threat of imminent war.  To just stroll into Gaza with the acquiescence of Israel is ludicrous.  Here’s why:

• We have no legal claim: It’s not Israel’s land into which they can invite another country, like the U.S.  In the Oslo Agreement, the Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to a city-state incorporating Jerrico, the West Bank and Gaza.  In 2006, the Hamas party won election and ruling power within Gaza, then proceeded to make bellicose and, eventually, hostile acts of war towards Israel.  Technically, Israel could claim Gaza as a prize of war (which they have publicly discussed over the recent past).  But this would cause them a world-wide backlash: economically, diplomatically and probably militarily.  Additionally, Israel has already tried direct control within Gaza, leading to decades of guerrilla warfare against them.  Therefore, even with the most current, massive retaliatory strikes into Gaza, Israel has been careful not to exert legal authority or incorporation of the land strip into Israel.  Gaza is not Israel’s to invite the U.S. into.  And it’s very doubtful that the Palestinian Authority still ruling from Jerrico would authorize any U.S. takeover.  The PA has a very tenuous relationship with Gaza.  For the U.S., Gaza is not a prize of war, nor is it For Sale, nor is it contiguous to the U.S. allowing some form of territorial absorption.  The U.S. would have a much stronger claim to incorporate Canada into its borders than it would Gaza.  The U.S. could buy Gaza, but from Whom?
• It smacks of Imperialism:  Beginning its history as the colony of an empire (breaking away via a long, bloody war) the United States has always been careful to avoid any association with imperialism.  Even after winning the Spanish-American War against the decrepit empire of Spain, Congress could not bring itself to legally seize Cuba as a prize of war.  The hypocrisy of absorbing a land and peoples that we were, supposedly, fighting to free from an evil oppressor was a step too far, even for the Yellow Journalism of Hearst and Pulitzer.  Our home-grown imperialists, Senators Lodge and Roosevelt, could only pressure President McKinley into delaying the independence of our other prizes of that war: the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico.  Fate removed McKinley via assassination and allowed the U.S. to continue control of these lands far into the future.  Our financial and political pressure upon Britan to dismantle its empire after WWII only heightened our senses to charges of American Imperialism.  Every country we have set boots-on-the-ground since the end of that war has been accompanied by geopolitical adversaries branding the U.S. as imperialists.  Congressional approval and funding of a military and civilian incursion into Gaza would be a non-starter.
• It will stain the U.S. as immoral:  Rebuilding Gaza requires that all its citizens pack up their lives and, either permanently or for a generation, move to another country.  Taking over someone’s homeland and expelling its citizens is very close to ethnic cleansing, if not genocide. Creating a diaspora in the Middle East will destroy any remaining Good Offices that the U.S. could bring to bear in the future.
• It is economically insane:  In a time where the U.S. is running massive deficits, it makes absolutely no sense to pay the billions for a cleanup of Gaza.  We do not have the money.  And, as said prior, Congress would never approve the funding during a time when it is slashing budgets and ending whole Federal Agencies.  The only payoff could come 20 to 30 years in the future when luxury hotels and condos could crowd the Mediterranean beach.  But who would benefit?  Probably not the Palestinians.  Even if we provided each Palestinian a modern flat within the high-rises, it would be contingent upon, deservedly, pissed-off and radical Palestinians not blowing everything up once more.

The Shock_&_Awe Trump brings to governance is straight from his book The Art of the Deal; State your demand for a hugely exaggerated ASK and then let your adversary stutter and stammer until they, themselves, negotiate it backwards to the point you desired from the beginning.  It’s a very classic way of negotiating.  Except Trump’s ASK is always staggering and leaves his audience breathless.  And he knows it.  And anyone who knows him knows it.

So what is the real ASK?

Trump wants to cap-off his Middle East achievement from his first term: the Abraham Accords.  These are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain.  His plans were to add Saudia Arabia to this group in 2020..  But we all know how that was derailed..

Trump wants the military and money of Saudia Arabia to be committed to stabilization of the Middle East.  And to do this, he needs Israel and Saudia Arabia to ink an agreement of mutual recognition and cooperation.  But there is an interim step.

Trump wants Saudia Arabia to announce its commitment of peace-keeping troops and money to rebuild Gaza.

Unlike Iran, Saudia Arabia is Sunni-Muslim, the same religion as the Palestinians.  With Iraq’s Sadam Hussein long gone, Saudia Arabia is the leader of the Sunnis sect.  Two of the most sacred sites of Islam are within Saudia Arabia: Mecca and Medina.  With all its oil wealth, Saudia Arabia could offer its Muslim charity and Good Offices to the Palestinian people by rebuilding their country and providing a security force to the region.  After all, the Saudi’s are supposedly trusted brothers to the Palestinians.

But this act of benevolence is contingent upon the Palestinians and the entire Arab world acquiescing to Saudia Arabia’s signing of an agreement with Israel for diplomatic, political, military and economic normalization and cooperation.  Saudia Arabia will explain that it cannot put a military contingent within Gaza without Israel agreeing.  It could be considered an act of war.

So, here is the real ASK of Trump.  Saudia Arabia shall become allied with Israel.

Here are the benefits if this occurs:

• Saudia Arabia becomes the security force to control Gaza, not the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), and definitely not the U.S.
• The unspoken caveat is that this security force protects Israel from radical Palestinians as much as it protects Palestinians from Israeli military incursions.
• Saudia Arabia has control and potential ownership over Gaza development into a world-class Mediterranean destination
• Saudia Arabia can project its leadership of the Arab world.
• Saudia Arabia becomes a military and economic force within the Middle East, supplementing, if not supplanting U.S. military presence in the region.
• Israel’s security is enhanced.
• Israel achieves needed access to a cooperative workforce (Gaza Palestinians).
• Hezbollah (in southern Lebanon) is further isolated, neutralized and could, possibly, become the next target of stabilization.
• Iran is further isolated and economically frozen out of Middle East participation until the Mullah government collapses.

However, Saudia Arabia does have some of their own ASKs for an agreement with Israel:

• The U.S. must guarantee military assistance (including troops) if Saudia Arabia is attacked.
• Saudia Arabia wants a civilian nuclear energy plant.

There is little doubt that these two points can be negotiated successfully by President Trump.

Saudia Arabia’s participation in Gaza is what is behind President Trump’s over-reach.  After the Left and the ill-informed stop yelling and wipe the egg of their face (just as with the issue of ‘tarrifs’),  Trump’s ASK will be achieved, and the world will be a bit safer.

And Trump’s legacy will be enhanced.

And Prime Minister Netanyahu can break into a full grin.

Gaza’s Real Trump Card Copyright © 2025 by M.  A.  Farrell.  All rights reserved.   No part of this article  may  be  used  or  reproduced  in  any  manner  whatsoever  without author’s written  permission  except  in  the  case  of  brief  quotations  embodied  in  critical  articles, media reference or  reviews; all properly cited.  For information and permissions, contact: maf@evstarpub.com