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Gaza just made the rapidly growing list of places that Donald Trump says he wants to take.

It began with a joke on making Canada the 51st state of the US. Then came his revived interest in Greenland and a threat to retake the Panama Canal.

Where it will stop and how seriously to take this latest territorial claim is one for policymakers to unpack. How to reconcile the isolationist and Monroe Doctrine-devotee president with the expansionist who appears to think the US can help itself to any parcels of land it wants under the guise of strategic interest?

One way to look at the suggestion that the US take over the Palestinian strip wedged between Egypt and Israel is whether this is Trump the property developer talking. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump at the White House yesterday. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg

He said the war-devastated enclave had the potential to become “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He’s made similar noises about North Korea before.

But the consequences of his words, especially for the fate of 2 million Palestinians and their homeland, carry ominous undertones — as do his comments about land ownership in South Africa.

A pattern Trump has shown over the years is that he tests out ideas, sees how they land, then comes back to them. 

Back in 2016, his campaign promise to construct a wall along the Mexican border was seen as ridiculous. But he went on to build some of it. 

Is it a negotiating ploy, or is he bluffing? The mistake has been to dismiss Trump’s musings out of hand.

Right now, Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia stand opposed to Trump’s proposal and the permanent displacement of Palestinians, a longstanding goal of Israel’s far right. But the key is what conversations are happening in private.

China, with its eye on Taiwan, is one of many parties worldwide with an interest in the outcome. — Flavia Krause-Jackson

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the north of Gaza on Jan. 28. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

The first volleys in the latest US-China trade war made clear that President Xi Jinping is taking a more cautious approach than during Trump’s first term, with swift-but-calculated retaliation by Beijing to Washington’s imposition of 10% tariffs. Trump told reporters there’s no rush to talk to Xi and they’ll speak at the appropriate time.

A wave of arrests and investigations in Turkey since the turn of the year — which ensnared national politicians, journalists, a celebrity agent and the mayor of Istanbul — have left some observers second guessing the motivations of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The detentions come as Erdoğan allies have voiced support for him to serve a third term beyond 2028, which could need constitutional change.

Erdoğan delivers a speech following a cabinet meeting in Ankara on Monday. Photographer: Anadolu/Getty Images

Panama is weighing whether to cancel its contract with the Hong Kong-based company that operates ports near the Panama Canal, a potential concession to defuse Trump’s threats about countering China’s influence around the key waterway. President José Raúl Mulino’s moves are a delicate balancing act to appease the US while maintaining national pride and avoiding military threats.

The US Agency for International Development will place most employees — barring those in mission-critical and core-leadership roles — on administrative leave starting Friday as the beleaguered agency becomes a battleground in the campaign by Trump and Elon Musk to restructure the federal government. The Central Intelligence Agency has meanwhile offered staff buyouts to shrink the workforce in line with Trump’s broader job cuts.

Zimbabwe’s six years of wooing the United Arab Emirates under President Emmerson Mnangagwa has offered a lifeline to an African nation the West has ostracized for a quarter century and which is unable to repay its loans to China. The Gulf state has become resource-rich Zimbabwe’s biggest export partner, while plowing $1.4 billion into everything from gold trading to real estate as part of a wider effort by the UAE to build influence across Africa.

Emmerson Mnangagwa. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

Greenland’s prime minister, Múte B. Egede, called a general election for next month, with global attention drawn to the island after Trump said he wants to wrest control from Denmark.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou is set to ride out two no-confidence votes today, giving him the stability needed to implement a delayed 2025 budget.

The Philippines’ House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte today over allegations of misuse of funds, corruption, betrayal of public trust and of issuing a death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

The US is evaluating Nicaragua’s membership in a regional free-trade agreement as the Central American nation’s authoritarian government cracks down on dissent and fuels a surge in migration.

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Chart of the Day

Chinese e-commerce retailers sank in Asian trading today after the US Postal Service announced that it’s temporarily suspending inbound packages from China and Hong Kong. While it’s not clear what prompted the USPS move, it comes after Trump revoked a “de-minimis” rule for China, which previously allowed small packages under $800 to enter the US duty-free.

And Finally

Uncertainty is taking hold among businesses in the biggest US trade hub. Customs brokers, freight companies and business owners operating in Laredo, Texas, rushed to move as much cargo as possible over the past few days, trying to get ahead of tariffs on Mexican imports threatened by the Trump administration. The White House’s pause on the levies has brought only a brief reprieve, with North American businesses that rely on imports forced to reassess supply chains and operations. 

Vehicles wait to cross the US-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, on Monday. Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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