Five takeaways from the Trump-Netanyahu press conference

From taking over Gaza to belittling Joe Biden: the big talking points as Donald Trump hosts his first world leader of his second term.

President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday for the first bilateral press conference and Oval Office meeting with a foreign leader of his second term.

Here were the top takeaways on the Middle East:

Future for Israel and developing Gaza

Trump, likening Gaza to a demolition site, repeated his sentiments from earlier in the day that millions of Palestinians should leave Gaza for neighbouring countries, perhaps permanently, doubling down on a proposal that has been rejected by Arab countries and the Palestinians themselves.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip … level the site, get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” Trump said at the press conference.

Trump also didn’t rule out sending US troops to the Gaza Strip. During his meeting with Netanyahu ahead of the press conference, Trump called for Palestinians to be permanently relocated out of Gaza, which he has described as “hell.” Trump said the developments in surrounding nations will result in “thousands of jobs and they’ll be jobs for everyone, not just a specific group of people but jobs for everyone.”

“I have a feeling that the king in Jordan and the general in Egypt will open their hearts and give us the kind of land that we need to get this done,” Trump said.

US President Donald Trump takes questions during the press conference Picture: AFP

‘Riviera of the Middle East’

Trump said he envisioned a redeveloped Gaza Strip, where people from all nations lived, including Palestinians. He said the current situation, with both Israel and Palestinians seeking to live in the area, was unsustainable – as evidenced by the fighting for the past year. Asked if that meant he didn’t support a two-state solution, Trump said: “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one-state or any other state, it means that we want to give people a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hell hole.”

“You have to learn from history, you just can’t let it keep repeating itself,” Trump said. “I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but ‘the Riviera of the Middle East.’” Trump, a longtime global property developer, said he wanted it to be done “world-class” and said a future development could be “so magnificent.”

More pressure on Iran

Trump said that the two world leaders would continue to push back against Iran developing nuclear weapons by “enforcing the most aggressive possible sanctions” to drive Iran’s oil exports “to zero.” Trump said that without oil purchases, Hezbollah would become weakened. Trump took credit for weakening Iran during his first term, and on Tuesday signed a memorandum reimposing tougher policy on Iran.

Trump said that he “hated doing it” but that it needed to be done to restrict terrorism.

“They cannot have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple.”

“We’re both committed to rolling back Iran’s aggression in the region and ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House press conference Picture: AFP

What’s next for ceasefire

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu comes at a critical moment for the Middle East. Negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas are expected to begin soon.

Trump said that he hopes the delicate ceasefire in place between Hamas and Israel holds.

“I’m hopeful that this ceasefire could be the beginning of a larger and more enduring peace that will end the bloodshed and killing once and for all,” Trump told reporters. He said that he was working to build American strength in the region, and noted that the US on Tuesday withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council and ended support for the UN Relief and Works Agency.

No love lost for Biden

Both leaders offered digs – some implied, others overt – at former President Joe Biden.

Trump, with Netanyahu occasionally nodding alongside him, blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for “not so many victories in the past four years, ” saying that “the horrors of October 7 would never have happened if I were president.” Netanyahu, in response, called Trump “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” noting that in his first term, Trump moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and brokered the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel, Bahrain and the Emirates.

Moving to Trump’s second nascent presidency, Netanyahu spoke of the recently brokered ceasefire – and Trump’s decision to send a supply of 2000-pound bombs to Israel that Biden had held back.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, all this in just two weeks,” Netanyahu said. “Can you imagine where we’ll be in four years?”

Dow Jones