How Trump triggered a Middle East storm by answering four Daily Mail questions

The first hint came in a joking anecdote about Joe Biden for fans in Las Vegas, when President Donald Trump said that he had just spoken with a world leader.

On Sunday morning the Middle East was in turmoil. The hard Israelis cheered, while the Palestinian officials were furious that they were sold out.

In between, he was asked four questions by a reporter from the Daily Mail on board the Air Force One for more information about his telephone conversation with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

And his answers – in which it was suggested that the war -tired population would be moved from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt – showed how Trump has again the extraordinary ability to initiate tectonic movements in geopolitics.

But it could have turned out very differently.

After it had informed the supporters about that call, the White House released one of its usually boring statements.

“Today President Donald J. Trump held a phone call with his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, in which King Abdullah congratulated President Trump on his inauguration,” the report said.

“President Trump thanked King Abdullah for his long -term friendship, and the two leaders discussed the importance of regional peace, safety and stability.”

President Donald Trump spoke with reporters on board the Air Force One on Saturday evening while we flew from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Miami, Florida

Trump wants to expel more than a million people from Gaza, where a devastating war has put the Palestinian enclave in ruins. On the photo, Palestinians, who were driven to southern Gaza during the war by command from Israel, were waiting for their tent while waiting for permission to return to their house in northern Gaza, amid a stopping Fire between Israel and Hamas.

The reading came just when a reporter of the Daily Mail and twelve other journalists from the 'Presidential Pool' on board the Air Force One went for the flight of Las Vegas, where Trump gave a rally -like speech about the reconstruction of the Economy, to Miami, where he would be expected to spend the night in his Doral club.

The Pool travels with the president to ensure that the media has access to his events, even at small locations or in private environments, and sends reports to thousands of colleagues in Washington and beyond.

And this president has made it clear that he sometimes likes to take the wind in his sails with reporters at the back of the plane.

And so it happened that an hour after the flight (when the stewards were preparing a dinner with grilled chicken on spaghetti), a president without a tie appeared in the press cabin.

After I had answered questions about the paintwork of Air Force One and questions about why he had fired more than a dozen government inspector-general, I saw my chance.

Can you tell us a little more, I wondered about your phone call with King Abdullah?

“It was a very good phone call. He is a friend of mine. We can find it very well, “he said in his familiar style.

'I have been able to get along with him very well in recent years. He has done fantastic work. He really houses millions of Palestinians and does it in a very humane way. “

Trump has often suggested 'non-traditional' solutions for conflicts around the world

“You're talking about one and a half million people, and we just clean up that whole thing,” he told DailyMail.com on board the presidential jet aircraft Air Force One.

The reading of the call by the White House offered few instructions about its content

I pushed him. Was that what the phone call was about?

“Just about. I told him: I would like you to take more on you, because I am now looking at the entire Gaza Strip and it is a mess, “Trump continued. “It's a real mess.”

This was news. Jordan houses more refugees than anyone and would be wary to record more refugees. The inhabitants of Gaza would not be willing to leave because they wonder if this was all a kind of Israeli land robbery.

So I asked him downright: do you mean you want Jordan to accommodate people from Gaza?

“I would like him to take people with him. I would like Egypt to bring people. I talk to General Sisi [president of Egypt} tomorrow sometime I believe. I’d like Egypt to take people. 

‘And I’d like Jordan to take people. You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. You know over the centuries its had many, many conflicts. And I don’t know, something has to happen,’ he continued, giving us even more news and colorful quotes to boot.

‘It’s literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there so I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change.’

Was this going to be temporary, I wondered, before he could me off.

‘Could be either. Could be temporarily or could be long term,’ he said.

It is not the first time Trump has offered radical ideas for Gaza. He has mused in the past about its coastline, fine weather and its suitability for tourism.

This is how the beach in Gaza looked before the war and earlier this week  Trump said it was a ‘phenomenal location’ but said it looked like a ‘massive demolition site’

 Palestinian children play next to a building destroyed by Israeli army strikes in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis earlier this month

This went a whole lot further. 

This was a story. But now the basic communications on Air Force One meant I had no way to transmit it.

All I could do was transcribe the president’s words and hit send two hours later once we were coming into land about two and half hours later.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, the story was everywhere.

My WhatsApp feeds included a statement from Gershon Baskin, an Israeli who negotiated with Hamas and who is the Middle East director of the International Communities Organization.

‘I hope that he understands that what he is suggesting is ethnic cleansing and should never even be whispered as a wish,’ he said.

‘Here’s my proposal to President Trump – let’s make believe that you didn’t even say it and some journalist (even the good one who first reported it) was mistaken.’

A Hamas official told Reuters it triggered longstanding Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.

Earlier in the day, Trump addressed supporters in Las Vegas with a rally style speech in which he set out his ideas for transforming the U.S. economy

Then he watched a game of craps on the floor of Circa Resorts and Casino

Basem Naim said Palestinians ‘will not accept any offers or solutions, even if (such offers) appear to have good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in the proposals of U.S. President Trump.’

Some hardline Israelis seized on the idea. 

In a Hebrew post on X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: ‘After 76 years in which the majority of the population of Gaza was detained under hard conditions to maintain the aim of destroying Israel, the idea of helping them by finding other places where they could start a new and better life is outstanding.’

Trump upended expectations during his first term with Middle East peace accords. His unusual approach brought the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and Israel and Bahrain.

His latest proposal quickly ruffled feathers and has the potential to ignite fresh conflict. 

And it is a sign that we can expect plenty more of Trump’s blue sky thinking, with all the turmoil that comes with it.