Donald Trump’s proposal on Tuesday that the United States take control of the Gaza Strip was one of the more shocking things any president has ever said, a genuinely surprising moment even by Trump standards.
It appeared that no one was quite as shocked as Trump’s chief of staff.
As reported by The Daily Beast and other outlets, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles could be seen “staring daggers” at Trump after he made the Gaza suggestion at a White House press conference on Tuesday, as shown in a photo taken by Anna Moneymaker of Getty Images. It’s a look of a staffer realizing that they will have to do a lot of work in reaction to a bizarre pronouncement that’s become familiar in the Trump years.
Susie Wiles’ expression when Trump said that Gazans should not be allowed to return to Gaza is the new Fauci putting his hand to his face in the briefing room. pic.twitter.com/t6HlbdZGKv
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) February 5, 2025
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“She pursed her lips and opened her eyes wide, looking a bit stunned as the president went on to blame his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel,” was how the Beast described Wiles’ reaction. The outlet noticed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was standing next to Trump during the event, appeared much happier with the Gaza suggestion than Wiles did.
However, foreign nations, including U.S. allies in the Middle East, have reacted less than positively to the Gaza takeover proposal.
“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on X.
President Donald Trump, seated next to international fugitive indicted for war crimes Israeli PM Netanyahu, asserted that there is “no alternative” but to resettle “all” Palestinians out of Gaza—a move that amounts to a planned ethnic cleansing.
➤ When asked how many… pic.twitter.com/Vm6xeAp4iu
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 4, 2025
“It is even wrong to open that to discussion,” Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister, said in reaction, per The New York Times.
“Regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the meeting stressed the importance of moving forward with early recovery projects and programs, removing rubble, and delivering humanitarian aid at an accelerated pace without the Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip, especially given their attachment to their land and their refusal to leave it,” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said, per CNN.
Photo courtesy of X screenshot.
