Skip to content

159 thoughts on “Why does Trump want Gaza?”

  2. oldfatpants

    Yes you are missing that he thinks he's a real estate savant. He is a stupid stupid reckless man. We are truly screwed

    3. Justin

      @MF Could be…. But at this stage I’m not a big fan of these explanations for what’s going on. It’s trump and republicans. They have wanted to “drown government in a bathtub” for a very long time. Revenge and hatred are a bonus. And if people didn’t know this was coming then they weren’t really paying attention.

      But, as Mr Drum is fond of writing, life is good. Though maybe we should make an exception for some federal workers. They are either already on notice or are certainly expected to lose their jobs.

      Layoff enough upper middle class professionals and eventually it has an effect on overall economic conditions. Oh well. Good luck.

  4. kendouble

    To answer the question, so he can make money clipping the ticket. A lot of money. None of this is spitballing. It’s real and he thinks he’s untouchable, a belief his co-conspirators with their own agenda - like Netanyahu - are happy to foster.

    1. Jasper_in_Boston

      It’s real and he thinks he’s untouchable,

      No. The Gaza thing isn't even a tiny bit real except maybe in Trump's rapidly disintegrating brain. At all. It's the craziest freaking thing I've ever heard.

      They're going to drive 2 million people out of Gaza at bayonet point? Trump is completely mad, has lost touch with reality, and no one's calling him out on it. They need to start discussing the 25th amendment. Ethnic cleansing today. Preemptive nuclear strikes tomorrow.

      Even from the perspective of pure evil, ethnic cleansing of Gaza makes no sense whatsoever from US national interest *and* is UTTERLY implausible. Simply can't be done. If Trump thinks this is a good idea, what ELSE does he think is a good idea? I repeat, he's fucking batshit insane.

      I'm actually starting to think his presidency might be a brief one.

  5. jdubs

    A constant mistake is for pundits and all-knowers to try to dig under the surface to discover the true, deeper meaning behind actions.

    What could this all mean? What are his true intentions? Why we have to overlook the obvious stated reasons and try to divine other intentions is a strange approach to shallow, well known people.

    Often the stated goal is the entire goal and it goes no deeper. Conquest, domination, ownership, punishment, cruelty...these are often the point. That's it.

    1. jte21

      Time to dust off Trump's Razor (h/t Josh Marshall) for another couple of years: “ascertain the stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the available facts” and that answer is likely correct.

    2. Coby Beck

      I agree. These constant head scratches and furrowed brows are rapidly progressing to infuriating, having left laughable and annoying far behind.

      The guy is transparent and shallow. Greenland, Canada, Gaza...all just real estate acquisitions.

      Just because something makes no sense to anyone with any intelligence and knowledge does not mean it makes no sense to Trump.

  6. iamr4man

    When he makes weird pronouncements like his comments on Gaza, I think of Trump as the drunk in a bar commenting on whatever he sees on the tv. “Gasha? You know what I shink (*hic*) they should do about zhat? Juss level the plache. Give the people living there a bunch a money and makum move. Then build a bunch of hotels on the beechus (*hic*).

    The Gaza thing is, of course, a distraction. Trump gets to say weird stuff and the MSM chases it like dogs chase squirrels. Meanwhile Musk and Trump’s various other Constitution haters get to reshape this country into the white Christian Nationalist country of their dreams with little scrutiny.

  7. Altoid

    That really is a question for the ages. Answers can range anywhere from meaningless verbal diarrhea, to purposeful distraction, to flowering of an idea somebody primed him with, to dreams of world empire, and I'd almost bet he doesn't know himself. He throws all kinds of shit against the wall all the time. Reporters sure took the bait on it, from what I saw. Maybe that's the only reason he talked about it.

    The one underlying point I think we all need to keep front of mind is something we've always known but that he doesn't always show quite so nakedly-- that the people who are there mean less than nothing for him. He's talking about their home, they have ideas for the place and what they want, but he doesn't see that, doesn't see them, and wouldn't care if he did. All that matters to him is what he sees at any given nanosecond. And that's also the attitude of the conquistador.

  9. kenalovell

    I can't believe Kevin asked this question. Did he never see the world's Greatest Property Developer salivating over "Little Rocket Man's" coastal fringe?

  10. Justin

    Trump is a problem solver. The only way to solve a problem like Gaza is, apparently, to destroy it, render it uninhabitable, and then clear everyone out. Don’t be a squishy! This is what it takes.

    It’s hilarious.

  11. DFPaul

    Guy has an incredible instinct for making noise and becoming the center of attention.

    Two things actually matter: the debt limit, and the prices of eggs and gas. Watch Trump very carefully never mention those. And yet he keeps hitting these subjects that launch a thousand op eds. It’s a kind of genius.

  14. Jasper_in_Boston

    I agree with most of the responses above, but also: Trump is really fixated on the idea of US territorial expansion. Someone forgot to tell him wars of conquest have been illegal for a long time, at least since 1945. Getting Gaza would be new territory.

    (I wonder if anyone has asked Trump why, if the requisite ethnic cleansing can be arranged, does he think Israel wouldn't claim Gaza for itself?)

    1. cephalopod

      It's pretty clear that he views annexation of territory as the definition of "greatness."

      He's floating a wide array of possible places to take in the hopes that one sticks. it doesn't matter which one. In the meantime it provides distraction so people complain less about everything else.

    2. cld

      Why not Australia? It's like Texas with poison animals and diamonds.

      And then we could reclaim the Belgian Congo, where Elon's ancestors died fighting for freedom. They would welcome us as liberators.

      Not India, though. Air is too icky. They've got to do something about the air first.

      But Gaza. Now that is some primo turf no one cares about.

      2. martinmc

        "Asia's crowded
        and Europe's to old/
        Africa is far too hot
        and Canada too cold/
        South America stole our name/
        Let's drop the big one, there'll be no one left to blame us"
        Randy Newman

    3. KenSchulz

      Certainly the US seizing a foreign land, especially garnished with ‘ethnic cleansing’, i.e. forced transfer of a population, would be a gift to the Kremlin, overshadowing Russia’s crimes in Ukraine (and Georgia and Moldova). Putin probably planted the idea in the malfunctioning brain of TFM.

  16. roux.benoit

    What about using Elon's rocket to ship the Palestinians to Mars? I've seen pictures, it looks sandy and dry, they won't feel out of place. I am surprised no one made the suggestion yet.

  18. Bluto_Blutarski

    "Why does Trump want Gaza?"

    "What possible use is it to the United States?"

    You do realize that question one has nothing to do with question two?

      1. jte21

        I think his point was that Trump doesn't give a shit what's in it for America. That's completely irrelevant. He only cares about what's in it for him. He *is* the state, as far as he's concerned.

  19. Pittsburgh Mike

    Trump probably really thinks he'll be able to sell beachfront condos. Look, paraphrasing Hunter Thompson, it's probably a good idea, if you have shit for brains.

    There are two things to note here:

    1 -- Trump is obviously brain damaged. Bibi was practically laughing at him during their press conference.

    2 -- My 2 year* old daughter drove a harder bargain when she agreed to give up diapers if we bought her Rugrats chewing gum than Trump did with Canada, Mexico, or apparently Israel.

    * at the time

    1. Altoid

      Good take that I agree with, but re #2-- while it's accurate, the "deals" themselves had nothing to do what he wanted, so he didn't care what the terms were. For him it's all about 1) grabbing attention, and 2) erasing an agreement Biden worked out and replacing it with something that has *his* name on it. He was doing the same thing to Obama, iirc.

      He doesn't care whether things that have his name on them are any good, in fact he prefers schlock and kitsch; just look at all the junk he peddles. He just wants his name on everything. He's like a dog marking its territory, has to wizz on everything he can reach.

  20. cld

    If the US somehow seized Gaza it would be a Disneyland of continual terrorism that he could use to rationalize weaponizing the Federal government in any kind of insane extremity.

    1. Josef

      But we would be responsible for the defense of Gaza, not Israel. I could see the benefits for Israel, not so much for us.

    1. jdubs

      Telling Americans to fight off a deadly virus by ignoring medical advice, drinking bleach and stocking up on horse pills?

    2. D_Ohrk_E1

      US going to war with Iran because the convicted felon was assassinated. He announced this as his last request in case they were successful.

      It goes without saying we'd go to war, but you know, maybe we can just ask for a $1B compensation in a similar manner of the quid pro quo that the convicted felon apparently reached with Saudi Arabia's Bin Salman when he pretended to care about Khashoggi's murder only to sign off on an $8B weapons sale to Saudi Arabia.

      I mean really, maybe those would-be Iranian assassins are "rogue killers"? Who's to know?

      1. cld

        And if it wasn't Iran do we attack them anyway?

        I think Trump's death, should it ever happen, should be celebrated by a national holiday, Huge Dick Day, where everyone carriers around a bag of, actually, tiny, almost microscopic, dicks, and throws them at whoever or whatever they don't like, food, people, things, pelting them with tiny dicks lets out all their violent aggressions, like the purge but with an obscuring brightly colored cloud of powdery useless penises. It could be his legacy.

      3. lawnorder

        One of my thoughts is that Canada has some of the world's best snipers, and Canadians can blend tracelessly into American crowds. Probably the only thing keeping Canada from sending a hit team after Trump is that the Canadian government just doesn't think that way, and that may change if Trump keeps pushing.

        If Trump is assassinated, look for a maple leaf on the bullet.

  24. jte21

    Since we supplied the bombs and armaments that levelled most of Gaza, I suppose there is some sense in arguing we should be the ones to rebuild it. Of course what Trump is envisioning is cleansing the territory of actual Gazans and then throwing up glittering rows of South Beach-style high-rises, which is pretty much on brand.

    The other angle is that the endlessly-needy and narcissistic Trump has always wanted to be seen first and foremost as the great Deal Maker and Peace Maker. Make over-the-top threats, but then cut a deal when the other side gives in. Gaza is one of the poorest, most war-torn places on earth. If he can take credit for "rebuilding" it and pacifying it...hey! Peacemaker!

    Of course the Roman historian Tacitus had his -- and other imperialists' -- number long ago: "They create desolation, and call it peace."

  26. Marlowe

    Is Drum really the most clueless naive idiot on the planet or are his recent posts (Drumpf and Musk can't really do that, John Roberts will stop him, etc.) some kind of deadpan black comedy performance art? In what was a late night comedy sketch until yesterday, Drumpf--in all seriousness--wants to ethnically cleanse Gaza so he (probably partnered with Lil' Kushie) can build Trumpland By the Sea. And by sea I mean the Trumpian Sea (or the sea formally known as the Mediterranean). This renaming will probably be done by the same legislation in which Congress, in the name of a grateful nation, gifts Gaza personally to their Drumpfenfuhrer alone with the develop funds to construct the biggest and most beautiful resort ever seen in the history of the world.

    BTW, here's an idea for a comment section poll: does this legislation pass in the Senate after the Republicans hire a new parliamentarian that declares it can be passed via reconciliation or do they just abolish (or create an exception to) the filibuster? And by the way, tell me I'm being shrill, I just double dog dare you.

    1. Bardi

      Ignoring thousands of years of attempts at building rivieras, that are under water now. The storms Gaza experiences will slow much of the rebuilding, what happened to the US "floating dock" should be a cautionary warning, to be ignored, as usual by the corporate morons with unlimited access to US taxpayer monies.

  28. Martin Stett

    Like the scene in "Millenium" where the FBI profiler is trying to explain the mind of a serial killer.
    "But what does he WANT?"
    "He doesn't WANT anything. He's INSANE."

  30. cld

    It's like a role-playing game where you can choose your own chaos,

    USPS Halts All Packages From China, Sending the Ecommerce Industry Into Chaos,

    https://www.wired.com/story/tariffs-trump-ecommerce-amazon-temu/

    The United States Postal Services has abruptly stopped accepting all packages from Hong Kong and China until further notice, according to an international service disruption notice posted on the USPS website.
    . . . .
    Previously, packages like the ones Daniel’s company often handles could move freely across the border. Trump’s executive order, though, not only imposes an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China but also ends a key import tax exemption, one that has enabled the rise of Chinese ecommerce platforms like Temu and Shein.

    Known as de minimis, the rule waives import duties for small packages valued at less than $800 shipped into the US. Originally intended to exempt personal gifts and other items that Americans send home from trips abroad, it has since allowed foreign businesses to more easily sell goods to US consumers without needing to worry about paying import taxes. The number of de minimis packages has soared in recent years as the ecommerce market has become more global, making it difficult—if not impossible—for Customs and Border Protection to keep track of all the parcels flowing into the US.
    . . . .
    Cindy Allen, who has worked in international trade for over 30 years and is the CEO of the consulting firm Trade Force Multiplier, gave WIRED an example of how much additional cost the tariff will incur: A woman’s dress made of synthetic fiber shipped from China through de minimis will now be subject to a regular 16 percent tariff, a 7.5 percent Section 301 duty specifically for goods from China, the new 10 percent tariff required by Trump, additional processing fees and customs brokerage fees, and perhaps increased brokering and handling costs due to the sudden change in rules.

    “Will the dress that was $5 now cost $5.50 or $15?” says Allen. “That we don’t know. It depends on how those retailers react and change their business models.”

    1. Josef

      Trump is the chaos king. I'm not even sure he's capable of realizing he's doing it. I think it's a side effect of his stupidity and ego.

Comments are closed.