Fox’s John Roberts Challenges Karoline Leavitt on Trump’s Gaza Plan: ‘Exact Opposite’ of His Campaign

Fox News anchor John Roberts pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday over President Donald Trump’s recent plan for a U.S. takeover of Gaza.

During a press conference earlier this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump floated the idea of the United States taking over Gaza, removing the Palestinians, and developing it into some kind of international “riviera.”

Roberts grilled Leavitt over the fact that Trump campaigned on the policy of less U.S. military interventionism abroad.

ROBERTS: I want to ask you about the president’s announcement at Gaza the other day, which seemed to take staff members by surprise. It’s something that he had talked about, but they didn’t know he was going to make an announcement. Few people I’ve talked to who worked there at the White House, when they heard that, they said, wait, what?

I mean, it’s an idea. Some people think that he’s laying down the gantlet to our allies to say, well, if you don’t like this idea, have you got a better idea? But the question I have is he went through the campaign saying that he wanted to get the United States out of its involvement in foreign entanglements. This would seem to be exactly the opposite of that.

LEAVITT: I don’t think so, John. The president has made it clear that he will not be sending a boots on the ground to Gaza. He is not committed to that. He also has made it clear that American taxpayers will not be funding this effort. The president is trying to strike a deal to ensure that Gaza can actually be a habitable place for human beings who want to live in peace with real economic development. And President Trump is an outside of the box thinker.

That’s, again, why the American people elected him, because he has a different perspective to the foreign policy challenges that have been plaguing our world for many, many years. And so this is a great idea. And our partners in the region have begun to discuss it with this administration. We have the king of Bahrain coming to the White House next week, and the president has spoken to many of our partners and allies in the Middle East about this opportunity in Gaza.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.