Middle East analysts say Trump’s comments have complicated his drive to secure diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

President Trump wants to broker normal ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but his proposal to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza just made that a lot harder.

A short time later, Trump made the stunning announcement that the US would expel Gaza’s residents to nearby countries and then "take over" the enclave and turn it into a beach resort . Within minutes, at 4am local time, Saudi Arabia issued a statement rejecting the entire premise.

Trump's proposal to redevelop Gaza and oust the more than two million Palestinians living in the territory prompted a global backlash and enraged the Arab world, making it difficult for the Saudis to consider normalisation.

"Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,

The president reiterates that the idea would mean resettling Palestinians, and that no US soldiers would be needed.

As the US president announced controversial plans to “take over the Gaza Strip”, Euronews checked in with Arab American voters from across the political spectrum. View on euronews