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'No easy answers': Skeptical Republicans try to keep open mind on Trump's Gaza plan

5 15
12.02.2025

President Trump’s declarations that the U.S. will take and rebuild Gaza and suggestion that Arab allies should take in displaced Palestinians are drawing muted pushback — and some doubt — from Senate Republicans.

Trump on Tuesday met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and doubled down on his vision for the U.S. taking control of Gaza and making it the “Riviera of the Middle East,” while its residents move to Jordan and other Arab neighbors — an idea those neighbors oppose.

Senate Republicans are skeptical.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Trump has “kick-started the conversation” and that he hopes “Jordan and [the United Arab Emirates] and Egypt and Saudi Arabia will get serious about providing some sort of multinational security force for Gaza.”

“His envoy said that the president doesn’t favor using American troops and he doesn’t favor spending a dime of American money,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told The Hill. “I take from that that it’s probably more of a thought experiment.”

Shortly after his meeting at the White House, meanwhile, Abdullah reiterated his country’s “steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians” in Gaza and the West Bank, effectively pushing back against Trump’s plan.

“This is the unified Arab position,” he said in a statement. “Rebuilding Gaza without........

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