Political Analysis: Trump’s Daydreams About Gaza

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By: Prof. Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh.

If Trump wants to displace Gazans from their homes, who is he offering the “illusion” of economic prosperity to?!

The absurdity and audacity of his statements reveal that he seeks to punish the people of Gaza Strip (GS) twice: The first is the US partnership with Israel in its brutal and destructive war on GS, marked by massacres and devastation. The second is the attempt to expel and displace the people of GS, who, despite enduring immense hardship, held their ground, resisted, and thwarted Israel’s efforts to displace them during the war.… Now, this agenda is being repackaged as an economic welfare project, though not intended for the people of Gaza!! … Trump seeks to accomplish through political maneuvering and blackmail what he and his Israeli allies failed to achieve through war…

Contradictions and Daydreams:

Trump presents himself to the region and the world as a thuggish, gambling merchant who views the world as a marketplace, a jungle or a neighborhood ruled by “brute force”… He speaks in contradictions… acknowledging Palestinian suffering while proposing solutions that further humiliate them and strip them of their rights… He treats occupied Palestine as both a sacred land and a land of peace… yet is willing to see it drenched in blood when it comes to its Palestinian inhabitants; As a “fanatical evangelical Christian,” he ties sanctity and peace to the fulfillment of evangelical biblical prophecies. He fails to recognize, nor does he seem interested in understanding, the profound significance of GS to the Palestinian people, who have been deeply rooted in this land for thousands of years. It holds immense value for every Muslim as a blessed and holy land—home to the prophets, the site of the Isra’ [night journey of Prophet Muhammad] and al-Aqsa Mosque… Its soil is imbued with the remains and blood of prophets, companions, followers and tens of thousands martyrs. This land has long been, and remains, a battleground for justice, and a graveyard for invaders throughout history.

Trump speaks with a complete disregard for moral and humanitarian standards. The suffering of the Palestinians is a direct result of the Israeli occupation, which the US supports, funds and sponsors. It also provides political and international cover, offering an artificial sense of “legitimacy” to the occupation. As for the solution, it lies in ending the occupation and restoring all Palestinian rights; not in perpetuating and expanding the occupation while punishing the oppressed Palestinian people. The cleansing of the land should be understood as the removal of occupation and injustice, not through ethnic cleansing or the genocide of its people.

Trump suggests that Egypt and Jordan could accommodate a new mass exodus of Palestinians from GS, claiming these countries are large enough to handle it. He overlooks the fact that many of these Palestinians have been displaced from their land, occupied by Israel since 1948, and that the natural solution would be for them to return to their land and property. Furthermore, there are over 150 UN resolutions affirming the right of return, reiterated over the past 76 years. The main obstacle to implementing these resolutions has been the refusal and intransigence of the US and its Western allies. If Trump is truly saddened by the tragic state of the Palestinians, the solution is clear: let them return to their homes.

The US, which proudly champions the slogan of “freedom”… refuses to recognize it as a right for the Palestinian people… Its leadership remains unwilling to acknowledge, in any practical sense, that freedom is a fundamental human value meant for all. The US does not seem to grasp that the core of the Palestine issue lies in the Palestinians’ struggle for freedom, dignity self-determination, and the exercise of their free will on their own land. Yet, Trump and his administration endorse Israel’s “freedom” to occupy, commit massacres and genocide, destroy, displace and impose sieges that starve the Palestinian people. The core of the Palestine issue lies in the occupation itself, which devastates infrastructure, cripples the economy, hinders development and destroys farms, factories and all forms of life. The Palestinians’ struggle for livelihood and basic needs is intrinsically tied to ending the occupation, which has caused immense suffering. Once this is achieved, Palestinians will no longer need the US or its allies, nor will they harbor dreams of prosperity in environments marked by enslavement, exile and asylum.

Trump, who declared the US quest to control and possess GS, speaks of it as if it were his “father’s farm,” treating the region as though it is simply there for him to take, control and claim as his own. Trump must remember that this land, as part of Palestine, has endured over a hundred years of suffering, marked by revolutions and uprisings. For 77 years, it has thwarted all attempts at displacement. In the past 17 years alone, it has fought five wars… the most recent and devastating being Operation al-Aqsa Flood, during which the Palestinian people ultimately imposed their conditions on Israel, forcing it to retreat… The idea of the US colonizing GS will not be an easy endeavor… it is destined to fail. Trump should reflect on the US withdrawals from Lebanon after the attack on the Marines, from Somalia, from Iraq, from Afghanistan… and, before all of these, from Vietnam…

A Realistic Reading of Trump’s Behavior:

On the other hand, a realistic analysis of Trump’s behavior shows that he isn’t seeking war, nor does he want to bear its costs. Rather, he is engaging in a form of blackmail—not only in GS but also with countries like Greenland (Denmark), Canada, Mexico, Panama and even his European and Arab allies. By inflating his demands well beyond what he expects to achieve, he uses them as leverage to secure his desired outcomes. This strategy involves a blend of propaganda warfare and political pressure to fabricate a “fictitious reality” that reshapes public consciousness… making it easier to discuss the impossible. By doing so, he fills the political landscape with his own media and political bubbles, distracting from the resistance’s victories and the real needs of GS, while simultaneously compensating politically and psychologically for Israel, masking its impotence and failure.

Consequently, he is portraying his retreat from that high ceiling as both a “sacrifice” and a concession. He seeks to normalize Israeli-US interference in Gaza’s future, making it seem acceptable to meet Israeli conditions. This framing makes the marginalization, isolation, and disarming of Hamas and the resistance, along with the imposition of an Israeli-collaborating administration in Gaza, appear “reasonable,” especially when compared to the displacement of Palestinians from the region.

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Finally, this is a clash of wills, a battle of consciousness that must be navigated with firm resolve, confidence, and wisdom—while keeping a hand on the trigger and trust in Allah Almighty. It is a struggle that the resistance, the people of Palestine, the free people of the world and the entire Ummah (Muslim nation) will overcome. Trump’s dreams and projects will crumble, just as the “Deal of the Century” did, and be consigned to the dustbin of history.