Trump’s Gaza takeover seems crazy, but maybe . . .

Among a plethora of ideas flowing from the hyperactive mind of President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. “owning” Gaza is among the worst.

Before I continue, to calm the MAGA wolves who are baring their fangs, here is a partial list of things he has done right: Enforce the borders, the Covid vaccine at Operation Warp Speed, cutting the head off ISIS, Space Force, Abraham accords. 

Now, why is “owning” Gaza wrong?

First, WTF does “owning” even mean?

We are going to buy it — like Greenland?

Annex it — like Canada?

Take it over by force?

Or was this a shiny object to troll us while he plans to spring something else?

As usual, Trump’s imprecise language opens the door to legitimate questions and criticisms.

And there has been criticism from Left and Right.

He seems to think because Gaza has been heavily damaged, Gazans want to leave. Why wouldn’t they? he asked.

A reporter in the room shouted out, “It’s their home!”

A guy like Trump with many homes may not understand the primacy of a single home.

Since Israel is almost always under attack, he could ask Israelis why they don’t want to leave. 

They don’t. It’s their home.

The root of the issue is who or what should control Gaza.

Almost everyone — Israelis, Americans, other Arab states — agree it should not be Hamas. It must not be Hamas.

The leading candidate should be the Palestinian Authority, the “recognized” entity of the Palestinian people. Alas, it is incompetent and corrupt.

That throws it back to the Arab states. Does the Arab League still exist? Haven’t heard a peep from them in decades.

So who gets the nasty overseer job? I would nominate Egypt, the most populous Arab state, with a glorious history; Saudi Arabia, among the richest Arab states, which contains Mecca, the heart of Islam, and Qatar, the tiny oil state that has proven itself as a reliable go-between. 

None of them want Hamas around. They recognize it as a death cult incapable of making things better. Egypt and Jordan are on record as not wanting any more Palestinians on their soil, temporary or not.

Does Trump know something we don’t? That seems unlikely, but anything is possible. Maybe he has used our aid to the countries as a bludgeon to get them on board.

In his presser, Trump astonishingly left the door open to the U.S. sending troops, which violates his core belief for about a decade of not sending U.S. troops to fight other peoples’ wars.

For the record, Israel has never asked for U.S. combat troops. Israel has asked only for arms so she can defend herself. 

The U.S. military — not fighting troops — has helped Israel with intelligence, guidance, and sometimes defense, such as when the U.S. helped Israel shoot down missiles fired by Iran.  Jordan and Egypt helped the allies, which included France and the United Kingdom.

It’s not like the U.S. military hasn’t tried to help in the Mideast before.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan sent the Marines to act as peacemakers during a civil war.

The result was a suicide bombing of the Marines’ barrack in Beirut, Lebanon, that cost 299 Marine lives.

Is that an outcome we could accept?

I think not.

The problem in the Mideast, in my view, is long-time Arab rejection of sharing the land with the people who were there first — Jews.

Several Arab nations have gotten over it, namely Egypt and Jordan, which have had peaceful relations with Israel for decades. They were later joined by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. 

When approached with an open heart and an open hand, Israel in the past has made territorial concessions.

Now, honestly, with right-wingers dominating the Israeli government, not to mention the murderous Oct. 7 pogrom, it will be difficult to talk about peace.

But governments change, atrocities are willfully put aside — not forgiven, not forgotten.

Trump’s notion of the U.S. somehow taking over Gaza is foolish.

But he may have kicked open the door to a more realistic solution.

Is it possible he is thinking strategically and is crazy like a fox? Or just crazy like a loon?