President Trump’s proposal to vacate Gaza of Palestinians has drawn serious responses from Americans across the spectrum, including from within Trump’s own Republican Party. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the most clear-eyed, and wrote in a post on X: “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) told Axios “No thanks,” when it comes to Trump’s proposal. “I’m not even sure Israel wants that. It’s just a bad idea. It’s a really bad idea,” he said.
Axios also interviewed two other House Republicans, both of whom asked to be kept anonymous. “I mean, it seems pretty fantastical,” one said. The other said: “I’m not sure how that works.... This just doesn’t seem like a workable solution.” This lawmaker added that Trump’s comment not only about Gaza but about Greenland and the Panama Canal “seems to be a little bit at odds” with the isolationist vision he articulated on the campaign trail.
Others were more cautious. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told a reporter “There’s probably a couple of kinks in that slinky,” according to Politico. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. I think that might be problematic, but I’ll keep an open mind.”
