Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the military was far from deploying troops to Gaza, casting doubt on any immediate intervention into the besieged coastal strip after President Trump suggested the U.S. take control of the territory.
Hegseth told Fox News's Laura Ingraham that any potential deployment to the region would involve detailed discussions with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. allies and partners.
'We are a very long way from that," he said. "That’s a long conversation."
But Hegseth defended Trump's suggestion that the U.S. help to rebuild war-torn Gaza after 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas — which are under a fragile ceasefire agreement.
"All options are on the table," Hegseth said. "We're not going to lay out exactly what we would or would not do in this context."
At a Tuesday press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump floated the idea that the U.S. “take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it," calling for a "Riviera of the Middle East."
The suggestion led to immediate blowback from Arab nations and Democrats, who pushed back against displacing Palestinians with ancient claims to the land from their home.
Republicans, however, have defended the president, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) calling the Gaza plan a “bold” and “decisive" move. But others questioned it, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Trump doubled down on the idea Thursday, writing in a Truth Social post that Gaza would be turned over to the U.S. by Israel after its war against Hamas ends. He said the Palestinian citizens would be relocated to "far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region."
"They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free," he wrote. "The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth."
The president also said no U.S. soldiers would be needed for the plan, walking back comments he made that suggested the opposite could be true.
It's unclear how serious the administration is about following through on the proposal, and whether it is simply a suggestion to get talks started on the post-war plan for Gaza.
Hegseth on Wednesday said Trump is "willing to overturn the apple cart" and "think outside the box."
"Through these types of discussions ... you can also move the Overton window of what's possible," he said. "Once Israel is able to eradicated Hamas ... the status of Gaza after that is a conversation that President Trump is willing to have."