President Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping statement that he would like the U.S. to take control of and redevelop the Gaza Strip might have sounded like it came from nowhere, but it was in keeping with his new administration’s expansionist ambitions.

Now Donald Trump wants to own the Gaza Strip.The President proposed on Tuesday that the U.S. should “own” the Gaza Strip, “level the site” and develop it, explicitly calling for displacing 2 million Palestinians from their homeland as the region’s leaders struggle to maintain a fragile ceasefire.

President Trump’s declaration on Tuesday evening that the United States could “take over” the Gaza Strip and that its Palestinian population could be permanently displaced was immediately criticized in the Middle East and beyond.