Donald Trump's plans to take over the Gaza Strip caught many people by surprise. (Reuters: Kent Nishimura)
Perhaps not as fully thought through as the President made out.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump proclaimed his proposition was "not a decision made lightly".
"Everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land," he said.
And yet, less than 24 hours after he outlined his radical proposal, his team are walking back key elements.
Trump called for the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip to be permanently moved out and relocated to other countries.
On Wednesday, his press secretary said it would be a "temporary" arrangement while the strip was rebuilt.
The US president also said his country should take ownership of the land to redevelop it — an idea predictably rejected by all neighbouring Arab countries and the Palestinian leadership.
His secretary of state now says he didn't mean it to be a permanent ownership.
So why did Trump propose an idea that is already being wound back? And does he seriously have ambitions for US territorial expansion, including into the Middle East?
Large parts of Gaza have been destroyed since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023. (Reuters: Hatem Khaled)
Expansionism? Or, something else?
I'll admit to a moment of genuine disbelief.
I was one of the journalists packed into the White House's East Room as Trump outlined the proposal for the US to "take over" and "own" the Gaza Strip.
His blueprint? Redevelopment. Creating the "Riviera of the Middle East" was not out of the question, he said.
It was hard to comprehend what I was hearing in real time, packed into a scrum of reporters trying to catch the president's eye and get picked to ask a question.
Trump was clearly relishing the collective shock in the room. He seemed annoyed when journalists would ask questions that weren't connected to the potential property deal.
He recognised the audacious plan for what it was, a complete departure from decades of bipartisan foreign policy. A plan, which if it were ever implemented, would secure his place in history as a president who had expanded the territory of his country.
Trump's Gaza plan has the potential to spark disaster on a huge scale
Photo shows Trump purses his lips in front of a US flag
Trump has always been obsessed with wealth and those who possess it, but the former property developer also openly admires dictators who use their military might to grab more land.
He praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "genius" and "savvy" for invading Ukraine and claiming territory.
Trump has also threatened to retake control of the Panama canal, declared he wants the US to buy Greenland and have Canada become his country's 51st state.
And while his plan for Gaza is consistent with those statements about expanding America's footprint, the president also has a history of spouting outlandish ideas to gain an advantage in negotiations.
The art of exaggeration
Trump has a penchant for exaggeration.
In his first book, The Art of the Deal, he explained his love of big claims.
"People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular," he wrote. "I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration, and a very effective form of promotion."
Trump often reaches for outlandish statements, which can make it difficult to know when he's outlining a real proposal versus just generating buzz.
It's unclear whether the president can distinguish between an idea in the corporate world, where talking up a property development before it's got final approvals might be a smart business move, and floating an idea as outlandish as removing an entire population from their homeland.
It's possible Trump may think his suggestion of a US takeover can be used as leverage to spur Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, to accept ceasefire conditions in its war with Israel that it wouldn't otherwise have considered.
Using a big threat to extract a deal is a regular ploy the president uses. In fact, he's did it earlier in the week. Just ask Canada and Mexico.
Trump accused his neighbours of not doing enough to stem the movement of migrants and illegal drugs into the US, and claimed they were ripping his country off with their trade surpluses.
At the weekend, he signed an executive order to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from both nations, and said there was nothing they could do to stop it.
But the day before they were due to come into effect, deals were done.
Canada, which had already said it would spend $CAD 1.3 billion ($1.45 billion) on bolstering border security, promised to hire a new "fentanyl czar", and agreed to list Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organisations.
Mexico announced it'd relocate 10,000 troops to its border with the US to help stop migrants trying to cross.
Trump claimed both as major victories but in truth the concessions from both countries didn't amount to much.
Canada had already promised to spend more cash on securing its border and Mexico regularly moves its national guard around the country.
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The lure of manifest destiny
Trump's decorative choices could give an insight into what type of President he aspires to be.
Once he'd taken back the White House, in addition to the restoration of his infamous Diet Coke button, he also had a portrait of former President Andrew Jackson placed back in the Oval Office.
Jackson is closely associated with the concept of Manifest Destiny. It's the idea that America was destined to continue to expand its boundaries.
He played a major role in expanding the United States both south and west.
As a general, he helped integrate Florida into the union and then as president, he ordered the forced removal and relocation of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, allowing the land to be taken over by white settlers.
Albanese's careful formula for dealing with Trump
Photo shows US President Donald Trump
His treatment of Indigenous people has made him such a polarising figure that Barack Obama, when he was in office, signed an order for Jackson's portrait to be removed from the American $20 bill.
Trump delayed the change during his first term as president, and it still hasn't happened. He's unlikely to allow one of his political heroes to suffer the ignominy.
Instead, he wants to strike a deal so large as to ensure his place in political history can't be erased.
Whether it's buying Greenland, Canada becoming his country's 51st state, retaking control of the Panama Canal or developing Gaza, the president seems fixated on expanding US territory. To secure his place among the pantheon of US leaders who've left the country bigger than they found it.
All seem like outlandish pipe dreams that pay little heed to the wishes of those who currently occupy the land he covets. But when the leader of the world's largest military expresses a desire for conquest, we're all forced to pay attention.
Trump seems genuine in his desire for expansion. But even if he doesn't get any more land as president and has to settle for something else, he's likely to deploy "truthful hyperbole" to maximum effect and claim he made the greatest deal, ever.
