Follow us on social

Trump signals death knell of two-state solution

Trump signals death knell of two-state solution

His plan for Gaza shows that no one really supports it, not the last administration or this one

Analysis | QiOSK

For the first time, a U.S. president has dispensed with even the pretense of supporting a two-state solution.

President Trump’s latest remarks — proposing the forced displacement of Palestinians to Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations — should not just be noted as another inflammatory statement. They are the final nail in the coffin of a policy Washington has long claimed to uphold. His words make clear the two-state solution is dead, and Palestinian displacement isn’t a byproduct of American policy — it’s the goal.

President Trump’s comments came as he welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the first foreign visitor to the U.S. in his second term. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and national security advisor Mike Waltz characterized Trump’s remarks as an example of his "creativity" and willingness to break from past approaches.

At the press conference held with the Prime Minister, the President was asked, “You just said that you think all the Palestinians should be relocated to other countries. Does that mean that you do not support the two-state solution?” To which the President responded, “It doesn't mean anything about a two-state or a one-state or any other state. It means that we want to have — we want to give people a chance at life. They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It's been horrible. Hamas has made it so bad, so bad, so dangerous, so unfair to people… And I have to stress, this is not for Israel, this is for everybody in the Middle East -- Arabs, Muslims -- this is for everybody.”

His avoidance of answering the question speaks volumes.

The comments on the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza have rightly sparked shock and outrage for their blatant endorsement of ethnic cleansing, even as they are now being walked back and reframed as a mere humanitarian proposal.

What’s been lost in the coverage of Trump’s remarks is the deeper shift it signals: his proposal to occupy Gaza — whether permanently or not remains unclear — and relocate two million people to Egypt and Jordan isn’t just logistically impossible; it’s a declaration that Palestinian displacement is the goal, not the consequence, of U.S. policy.

The insanity of “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” remains in the way policymakers and pundits still pound the table, insisting that a two-state solution remains the official U.S. position — even as every action taken by successive administrations undermines that very possibility. Decades of unconditional military aid, diplomatic cover for settlement expansion, and willful disregard for Palestinian sovereignty have made clear that "two states" was never an actual policy — only a talking point meant to delay accountability.

If nothing else, President Trump’s bluntness should force an overdue reckoning. If the two-state solution is dead — and by all practical measures, it is, then what comes next? The only path forward is the one that dares to address the reality on the ground: a one-state solution, an end to occupation, and equal rights and freedom for Palestinians. Anything else is just more of the same — and we already know how that ends.


Top photo credit: Hebron, Palestine, November 7 2010. Israeli IDF soldiers check Palestinian woman at military check point by the Abraham mosque in old town of Hebron (Shutterstock/dom zara)
Analysis | QiOSK
Kim Jong Un
Top photo credit: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the construction site of the Ragwon County Offshore Farm, North Korea July 13, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS

Kim Jong Un is nuking up and playing hard to get

Asia-Pacific

President Donald Trump’s second term has so far been a series of “shock and awe” campaigns both at home and abroad. But so far has left North Korea untouched even as it arms for the future.

The president dramatically broke with precedent during his first term, holding two summits as well as a brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone with the North’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. Unfortunately, engagement crashed and burned in Hanoi. The DPRK then pulled back, essentially severing contact with both the U.S. and South Korea.

keep readingShow less
Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one
Top photo credit: U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper speaks to guests at the IISS Manama Dialogue in Manama, Bahrain, November 17, 2023. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Why new CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper is as wrong as the old one

Middle East

If accounts of President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this past month are to be believed, the president’s initial impulse to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict failed to survive the prodding of hawkish advisers, chiefly U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Michael Kurilla.

With Kurilla, an Iran hawk and staunch ally of both the Israeli government and erstwhile national security adviser Mike Waltz, set to leave office this summer, advocates of a more restrained foreign policy may understandably feel like they are out of the woods.

keep readingShow less
Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the President of the Russian Federation) and Donald Trump (US Southern Command photo)

How Trump's 50-day deadline threat against Putin will backfire

Europe

In the first six months of his second term, President Donald Trump has demonstrated his love for three things: deals, tariffs, and ultimatums.

He got to combine these passions during his Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday. Only moments after the two leaders announced a new plan to get military aid to Ukraine, Trump issued an ominous 50-day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire. “We're going to be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal within 50 days,” Trump told the assembled reporters.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.