Top-level officials within the current administration attempted to walk back comments made by President Trump the day after he announced his vision of America taking over the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Mr. Trump made a stunning revelation when he said that America should seize control of Gaza and move out its residents into neighboring Egypt and Jordan. When reporters asked if he would send American troops to the region, he said, “If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that piece.”

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during the daily briefing something entirely different.

“The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza,” she said when asked about the president’s comments. “The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding of this effort.” 

“Again, it’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a livable place for any human being. And I think it’s actually quite evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”

Ms. Leavitt added that there was no written plan concerning a takeover of Gaza.

“The plan was written in the president’s remarks last night as he revealed it to the world,” she said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also made comments on Wednesday afternoon that suggested that Mr. Trump did want to claim possession of Gaza.

“The only thing President Trump has done — very generously, in my view — is offer the United States’ willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction, so that then people can move back in,” he said during a press conference with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo.

During a closed-door luncheon at the Capitol with Republican senators, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that the president “doesn’t want to put any U.S. troops on the ground, and he doesn’t want to spend any U.S. dollars at all,” towards efforts in Gaza, according to a report from the New York Times.

When asked by a republican senator if Mr. Trump’s comments on Tuesday were on point, Mr. Witkoff said that his administration had been “gestating on this plan for some time.”