Donald Trump shared a video that he says unveils “what’s next” for the Gaza Strip, including the president and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sipping cocktails and lounging topless beside a pool.
Late Tuesday evening, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to post a brazen vision for the region in a 35-second AI-generated clip.
The video begins with masked, gun-wielding men and small children picking through rubble in the city’s ruins, before “Gaza 2025” and “Whats Next?” [sic] appear on the screen in bold, red, white and blue letters.
Cranes and building work then dominate the skyline before, eventually, palm trees and full skyscrapers spring up with yachts left moored in the bay.
“Donald’s coming to set you free, bringing the life for all to see, no more tunnels, no more fear, Trump Gaza is finally here,” blares the backing track over the montage of the newly-regenerated Gaza.
Streets are lined with golden Trump statues and stores selling busts of his head – including a clip of a child holding a giant, golden Trump balloon. The words “Trump Gaza” appear everywhere around the region, inscribed on signs and buildings.
A smiling Elon Musk AI lookalike dips bread into what appears to be fondue or hummus, before later eating a pizza. The tech billionaire also appears in several clips with dollar bills cascading from the sky as Teslas are seen driving through the streets.
Then, a group of bearded, long-haired belly dancers perform on the beach. Trump, who is wearing a full suit, is then seen dancing with – and ogling at – another belly dancer inside a hall.
In arguably the most bizarre part of the clip, Trump and Netanyahu sunbathe beside the pool wearing only a small pair of trunks and sipping on cocktails, surrounded by lavish apartment blocks.
Trump has sparked a slew of backlash online in the hours after posting the clip.
“This is a reminder that in recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly said that the US will ‘own Gaza’ and has said its 2 million residents will be relocated,” the Republicans Against Trump X (Twitter) account tweeted on Wednesday morning.
Several top comments on Trump’s Facebook post said “Gaza is for Palestinians”, while one self-described Maga follower said he disagrees with the president “for the first time” for his “mockery and disregard” of those displaced from the region.
Sharing a screenshot of the bearded belly dancers, journalist Yashar Ali tweeted: “Trump Gaza looks pretty woke to me!”
The president has been met with a mixture of support, dissent and outright confusion after vowing to transform the war-torn territory from a “hell hole” to the “Riviera of the Middle East” during a White House press conference on 4 February that even took Netanyahu by surprise.
Without ruling out military intervention, the president declared that the US would “own” Gaza, which has seen vast destruction and around 47,000 deaths in the 15-month conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Trump also suggested millions of displaced Palestinians resettle in “areas where the leaders currently say no”.
The president claimed that “everybody” he had spoken to about the plan “loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent”.
Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have decried the proposal as amounting to ethnic cleansing under international law. However, several of his Maga faithful have praised his plans to “make Gaza beautiful again”.
In response to the backlash, White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was thinking outside the box.
“President Trump is an outside-of-the-box thinker and a visionary leader who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable,” she said.
