--- title: Trump Suggests U.S. 'Take' Gaza, Turn Into 'Freedom Zone' description: The President made the remarks during a business roundtable in Qatar on Thursday, May 15. Trump said that he wants to rebuild the strip. canonical: https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/ author: Callum Sutherland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-15T11:58:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-05-16T12:05:27.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Suggests U.S. 'Take' Gaza, Turn Into 'Freedom Zone' og:description: 'I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,' Trump said of Gaza. og:url: https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1207c23c8ca89c3e/6998c69d47fe51fd2a55bb51/GettyImages-2214559310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4759 og:image:height: 2677 og:image:alt: President Trump Makes First Middle East Trip Of His Second Term og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Suggests U.S. 'Take' Gaza, Turn Into 'Freedom Zone' twitter:description: 'I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,' Trump said of Gaza. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1207c23c8ca89c3e/6998c69d47fe51fd2a55bb51/GettyImages-2214559310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Suggests U.S. Should 'Take' Gaza and Turn It Into a 'Freedom Zone' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2282932c-b303-4396-ad9e-b5740119f2a0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Callum Sutherland](https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/) ## Callum Sutherland Reporter Updated: May 16, 2025 12:05 PM UTCPublished: May 15, 2025 11:58 AM UTC  President Donald Trump stands on stage as he tours the Al Udeid Air Base on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. President Donald Trump stands on stage as he tours the Al Udeid Air Base on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Doha, Qatar. Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Callum Sutherland](https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/) ## Callum Sutherland Reporter Updated: May 16, 2025 12:05 PM UTCPublished: May 15, 2025 11:58 AM UTC During a business roundtable in Qatar on Thursday, May 16, President Donald Trump once again suggested a U.S. takeover of Gaza as a way of attempting to redevelop the Palestinian territory. “I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it [a freedom zone](https://x.com/RoyaNewsEnglish/status/1922955966129094987). Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” [said Trump,](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-middle-east-news-05-15-25#cmap3c2qb00493b6r5q6kvrbn) during the roundtable with Qatari officials, in the presence of reporters. He continued: “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved.” Per CNN, the U.S. President went on to add: “They’ve never solved the Gaza problem and if you look at it, I have aerial shots, I mean there’s practically no building standing, there’s no building. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable, it's tremendous death. And I want to see that be a freedom zone.” Trump's comments came [amid reports of multiple airstrikes](https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-israel-hamas-gaza-05-15-2025-b32d055195ffec2b349a0948582c68e3) hitting the Gazan city of Khan Younis overnight into Thursday. Meanwhile, on Friday, during the last day of his Middle East tour, Trump returned to the discussion of Gaza once more. He's quoted as [telling reporters in Abu Dhabi](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250516-trump-says-many-in-gaza-are-starving): “We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.” **Read More**: [_‘No One’s Coming’: Inside Gaza as Israel Expands Its Military Control_](https://time.com/7283191/gaza-israel-military-plan-netanyahu/) This is not the first time that the President has put forward ideas about the future of Gaza, which is currently governed by Hamas. In January, while talking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians, suggesting a [“clean out” of the Gaza Strip](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2025/jan/26/trump-suggests-palestinians-leave-gaza-and-we-clean-out-that-whole-thing-audio). “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” Trump said. “I don’t know. Something has to happen, but it’s literally a demolition site right now.” The idea prompted [a strong rebuke from Arab nations](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/world/middleeast/arab-nations-reject-trump-evacuate-gaza.html).  Palestinian children walk amongst rubble near a displacement camp in Gaza City on May 12, 2025. Omar al-Qattaa—Getty Images When[ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cvg90dwe156o) visited the White House in February, Trump once again shared his vision for the war-torn location. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip. We’ll do a job with it. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous bombs and other weapons,” he said. “We will level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.” When asked what authority would allow the U.S. to carry out this idea, and whether he was talking about a “permanent occupation” there, Trump replied: “I do see a long-term ownership position and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East.” Trump went on to say that it was “not a decision made lightly,” and claimed “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” **Read More**: [_Breaking Down Trump’s Plan to Lift U.S. Sanctions on Syria_](https://time.com/7285433/trump-united-states-sanctions-syria-what-happens-next/) Standing next to Trump, Netanyahu said that one of Israel’s main goals was to “make sure Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again,” adding that Trump’s offer would be taking this goal “to a much higher level.” “I think it’s worth paying attention to this,” Netanyahu concluded. Later in February, [President Trump shared an AI video on his social media platform TruthSocial](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/26/world/trump-promotes-gaza-plan-ai-video-intl) depicting “Trump Gaza.” The video included AI-generated images of a golden statue of the U.S. President in Gaza, luxury cars, and skyscrapers in a reconstructed Gaza Strip. The clip drew heavy criticism from [Palestinians in Gaza](https://www.nbcnews.com/video/palestinians-react-to-ai-video-depicting-trump-gaza-232998981619). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/"},"headline":"Trump Suggests U.S. Should 'Take' Gaza and Turn It Into a 'Freedom Zone'","datePublished":"2025-05-15T11:58:47.000Z","dateModified":"2025-05-16T12:05:27.000Z","description":"'I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,' Trump said.","url":"https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News Desk","Israel-Hamas War"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1207c23c8ca89c3e/6998c69d47fe51fd2a55bb51/GettyImages-2214559310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Callum Sutherland","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/callum-sutherland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1207c23c8ca89c3e/6998c69d47fe51fd2a55bb51/GettyImages-2214559310.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Makes First Middle East Trip Of His Second Term","caption":"President Trump Makes First Middle East Trip Of His Second Term","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7285602/trump-plans-for-gaza-freedom-zone/","name":"Trump Suggests U.S. Should 'Take' Gaza and Turn It Into a 'Freedom Zone'"}}]}] ```