House Democrats are lashing out at President Trump this week over his vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a luxury playground.
The lawmakers said Trump, by promoting a fake video depicting post-war Gaza as an opulent resort destination, not only demeaned the office of the presidency but also complicated any peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
“I’m a very big supporter of Israel, and I think Israel has every right and responsibility to defend itself. But when a president goes and does something like that — it’s despicable. It really is. It makes things more difficult on the ground … for everybody,” Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) said.
“They just did something that’s really way below the character and nature of the presidency.”
Rep. Greg Meeks (N.Y.), the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was also incredulous.
“I cannot believe a president of the United States could ever put something on their official [social media account] on that. And we are to take that man seriously?” Meeks said. “It is absolutely ridiculous and insulting to me, and I think to anybody that understands history — that understands the complications of trying to get a true peace in the Middle East.”
Meeks pointed out that Trump’s vision for Gaza — the video features luxury yachts, a Trump hotel and Elon Musk dancing on a beach beneath a shower of money — largely excludes a major component of the region: the Palestinians who live there.
“It is nonsense,” he said. “It does not take into consideration that Jewish people have been put off their land and moved forever and finally they got a homeland — [and] the idea is not to do the same to the Palestinians and put them off their land.
“The idea is to have a two-state solution where two people can live side-by-side.”
The pushback comes in response to a video, posted on Trump’s Truth Social account late Tuesday night, imagining one version of “what’s next” for the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The region has been decimated by Israeli forces seeking to eliminate Hamas terrorists following the group’s deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. And the AI-generated video, which was not created by the White House, imagines Trump developing the rubble-strewn streets into a gilded fantasyland complete with seaside resorts, a golden Trump statue and children holding golden balloons of Trump’s likeness.
In one scene, the “Trump Gaza” hotel dominates the screen. In another, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are depicted sunbathing on the beach, tropical drinks in hand.
Trump’s promotion of the video comes as he has repeatedly floated the idea of the United States assuming control of Gaza, a Palestinian territory along the Mediterranean Sea that’s been occupied by Israel for decades.
Earlier this month, in a joint appearance with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump had dropped a bombshell proposal for post-war Gaza, suggesting the millions of Palestinians living there should be relocated permanently to surrounding Arab countries. In their wake, he said, the United States would assume ownership of the war-torn territory and rebuild it with a massive “economic development” project.
“This was not a decision made lightly,” Trump said at the time. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent.”
Separately, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a real estate developer, has lamented that the Palestinians in Gaza have not developed their “waterfront property” — land he appraised as potentially “very valuable.”
Trump’s proposals have been cheered by Netanyahu and members of his far-right administration, who oppose the two-state design that hinges largely on preserving Gaza and the West Bank as the core pieces of a proposed Palestinian state.
But Trump’s positions have drawn condemnation from Democrats, and even some Republicans, who have expressed concerns that a Western takeover of Gaza would forestall any possibility of the two-state plan, which has been advanced by American presidents of both parties for decades.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has been among those critics. On Wednesday, Jeffries said he has not seen the new Gaza video, but amplified his support for the creation of a Palestinian state as the best path to a lasting peace in the region.
“My support remains firm and resolute for a two-state solution,” Jeffries said. “I’ll take a look at the video, and we’ll have further comment.”
