John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser in his first term, slammed the president on Thursday over his proposal that the U.S. take over the Gaza Strip.
Bolton, now a frequent Trump critic whose Secret Service protection was recently revoked by the president, cited two issues with a plan that’s been questioned by some Republican lawmakers.
“The first is what’s the U.S. role going to be post-war in Gaza? I don’t think it will look anything like what Trump suggested on Tuesday night,” said Bolton in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“I don’t think there’d be any support for it. It’d be very dangerous in the circumstances. He doesn’t want to put troops in, which wouldn’t be advisable anyway. So a lot of that, I think, you can just disregard.”
He then turned to a “critical” issue on whether there will be attempts at an “utterly failed, utterly dead” two-state solution for Israel and Palestine before questioning what the humanitarian response will be for Palestinians.
“So there’s a lot to decide there and I think simply rebuilding a high-rise refugee camp in Gaza is a prescription for another Oct. 7 in due course,” he said.
Trump, in a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposed resettling roughly 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza and redeveloping the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Bolton, who was asked what he’d do as national security adviser if Trump came to him with his Gaza proposal, said he’d ask the president if he’s considered the security required for such an effort and the “lack of likely private investors to put billions of dollars into an area that’s subject to terrorist attacks.”
“Remember the saying, capital is a coward. You’re not going to get private investment in a highly politically risky, non-secure situation. You have to get security before you get the investment,” he said.
“That’s why this whole idea of the Eastern Mediterranean Riviera is just utterly unrealistic.”
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