Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is reportedly backing the deployment of U.S. troops to the Gaza Strip to assist with President Donald Trump’s plan to take control of the territory.
“The Palestinians have refused, or they’ve been unwilling to deliver a government that provided security and economic development for themselves,” Fetterman told Jewish Insider. “They allowed 10/7 to occur, and now Gaza has to be rebuilt. Where are the people going to live? Where are they going to go? So it’s a part of a conversation with where they’re at right now.”
“I don’t know what the role [of U.S. troops] is, but they’re obviously a part of it, and I fully support it,” Fetterman said.
BREAKING
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 5, 2025
Fetterman’s openness to deploying U.S. troops to a warzone currently under a ceasefire agreement follows Trump’s shock announcement Tuesday evening that the United States will “take over” the Gaza strip in order to bring the Israel-Hamas war to an end.
“They’re living under fallen concrete that’s very dangerous and very precarious,” Trump said during the joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again,” Trump added. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday afternoon that Trump is not ruling out deploying troops to Gaza in order to preserve leverage in negotiations.
“I think the president is very good when he’s making deals and negotiating not to rule out anything because he wants to preserve that leverage in negotiations,” Leavitt said. “And so I think that’s what he’s doing here.”
Fetterman’s endorsement of Trump’s proposal comes as nearly all Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the president for his Gaza proposal with some alleging the president was suggesting the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in order to achieve his plan.
“It is horrific. It is the definition of ‘ethnic cleansing’. It is part of the culmination of–what I view–to be genocide of the Palestinian people. This is genuinely one of the most horrific humanitarian… pic.twitter.com/GImL6p96Vy
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 5, 2025
Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green announced Wednesday he will file articles of impeachment against Trump in response to the president’s proposal “for dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done.”
Fetterman is a staunch supporter of Israel and the country’s right to defend itself against Hamas and other Iranian-backed proxies in the Middle East.
The Pennsylvania Democrat has consistently set himself apart from his fellow Senate Democrats by voting for eight of Trump’s cabinet nominees thus far and also cosponsoring Trump-backed legislation to curtail illegal immigration, which the president signed into law on Jan. 29.
The senator was also the first Democratic lawmaker to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
A spokesperson for Fetterman did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/YouTube/John Fetterman)
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