Gaza Is Not for Sale — No Matter What Trump Says

Trump’s absurd plan to annex Gaza will never be tolerated by Palestinians.

By Michel Moushabeck , 

 Truthout

February 6, 2025  

Displaced Palestinian children sit on a sand mound overlooking tents set up amid destroyed buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2025.

Bashar Taleb / AFP via Getty Images

Since the moment President Donald Trump took office nearly two weeks ago, he has signed dozens of executive orders that will hurt each and every one of us at home and further isolate and erode the United States’ standing in the world.

Immediately following his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order that rescinded sanctions on extremist settlers in the West Bank who committed violent crimes against Palestinians. He also reversed former President Joe Biden’s restrictions on sending Israel those 2,000-pound bombs that can erase entire neighborhoods, and moved to authorize shipping another billion dollars of weapons to the Israeli government.

More recently, President Trump signed orders imposing a freeze on USAID funding worldwide, banning future funding of UNRWA — the only agency capable of delivering desperately needed aid into Gaza — and withdrawing the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council after accusing it of anti-Israel bias. He also issued an executive order cracking down on pro-Palestinian dissent and campus-based organizing against Israel’s genocide and threatened foreign students on student visas with deportation.

All these actions — coupled with the president’s staunchly pro-Israel appointments in key positions — reaffirm the U.S.’s unconditional support for Israel’s genocide and continue to shield the apartheid state from accountability.

And Now for the Mother of All Surprises

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first leader of a foreign country to be invited to the White House since Trump took office. Prior to their February 4 meeting, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt described Netanyahu’s visit as a “working meeting” and emphasized the president’s “continued support for Israel, and ensuring that brutal terrorists in that region have hell to pay.”

During a press conference following this meeting, President Trump made a shocking statement, announcing that “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it.”

Mere days after half a million displaced Palestinians made the arduous trek to return to their completely destroyed homes and neighborhoods in northern Gaza, President Trump recklessly advocated for the transfer of 2 million Palestinians to neighboring countries — though, of course, not to Israel.

Asked by a reporter if his proposed plan might involve military force, he said: “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

It’s not the first time Trump’s inner circle has alluded to turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Back on February 15, 2024, during an interview at Harvard University, Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property.” He suggested that Israel should remove the Palestinians while it “cleans up” the Strip.

Trump claimed during his press conference that he had spoken to leaders in the region. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” he said. But could it be that he has only spoken with one person — his son-in-law — and is acting on his advice?

It’s not the first time Trump’s inner circle has alluded to turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Anyone who saw the video clips on social media exhibiting the joy Palestinians felt upon returning home to northern Gaza despite its total devastation — and putting up tents on top of the rubble of their destroyed homes — will understand the meaning of Palestinians’ attachment to their homeland. It would be naïve for anyone, including President Trump, to believe that Palestinians will voluntarily leave their homeland and resettle elsewhere.

Bassam Muhammad Abdulraouf, 29, expressed the commonly held sentiment among Palestinians when he told NPR that he has no plans of leaving Gaza. He said: “Even if there was a place that was a million times better than Gaza, and even if I could be sure that life there would be luxurious, I would still be ready to live among the rubble and in tents here. If they come with the army, with military force, I will still never leave.”

Palestine belongs to its Indigenous people; it does not belong to those who have stolen the land, forcibly displacing its inhabitants and are now intent on ethnically cleansing those who remained.
U.S. Will “Own” Gaza and Transfer 2 Million Palestinians to Neighboring Countries

I can’t think of anything more ludicrous than this proposal, regardless of whether this shock announcement is a manufactured distraction designed to overwhelm us or a negotiating tactic to further the ultimate goal of a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. If this is the latter — a demand Trump intends to later retract to make it appear as a concession — it would be a chapter out of Trump’s first term, when he backed off his support for Israel’s annexation of the West Bank in exchange for the UAE’s normalization with Israel.

U.S. annexation of Gaza is a massively irresponsible proposal. It is not only a violation of international law and a war crime barred by the Geneva Convention, but if pursued will have negative real-world ramifications. It is a recipe for disaster and endless violence that will have destabilizing effects throughout Southwest Asia. It will trigger fierce opposition from the 146 countries — more than three-quarters of UN member states — who have formally recognized the State of Palestine and have extended diplomatic relations. And it will give rise to even larger anti-Israel and anti-American protests around the globe.

For starters, this proposal is bound to derail phase two negotiations for a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. It will give Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist government an excuse to resume its bombardment of Gaza and stop aid trucks from entering the enclave, continuing the intentional starvation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their lands.

And as if this is not enough, Trump also said he would make a decision on Israel’s potential annexation of the West Bank within the next four weeks — a move favored by his appointee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, ultra-Zionist evangelical Christian Mike Huckabee. If Israel does officially annex the West Bank, it will be a massive step toward its endgame of an “out-of-state” solution, emptying the occupied territories of all Palestinians.

The time has now come for all remaining UN member states to come forward and recognize the State of Palestine and support the International Court of Justice’s ruling that declared that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem — as well as Israel’s system of apartheid — is unlawful and must end immediately.
World Leaders Reject President Trump’s Plan

While the proposed Gaza excursion will deviate from their “America First” agenda, Republicans unanimously praised Trump’s plan as “fresh” and “thinking outside the box.” In a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio parroted President Trump’s assertion. He wrote: “As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again.”

But except for Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” President Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and send 2 million Palestinians to live in “peace and harmony” elsewhere — effectively ethnically cleansing them from their homeland — was condemned by leaders around the world.

In the U.S., Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib wrote on social media: “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.”


Trump also said he would make a decision on Israel’s potential annexation of the West Bank within the next four weeks.

In Israel, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told NPR: “Every party involved except for Israel is completely against it.” And former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told NPR: “It is utterly unrealistic, and it reflects a total lack of understanding of the historical process of where these Palestinians come from, what is their collective identity.”

Leaders throughout the Arab world categorically rejected Trump’s plan, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, who issued a joint letter condemning the forcible transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza as a threat to peace in the region, as reported in the New York Times.

On Tuesday, the Saudi foreign ministry issued a statement reiterating the nation’s “firm and unwavering” support for the creation of a Palestinian state and that it would not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without it. It said: “Saudi Arabia also reiterates its previously announced unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, the annexation of Palestinian lands, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”

Similar opposition was swiftly expressed by European leaders, including those who, together with the United States, are complicit in the Gaza genocide. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Palestinians “must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement that displacing Palestinians citizens from Gaza would be “unacceptable and against international law.” Reuters reported that the French foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Paris “reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza.”
Gaza Was Not Struck by a Natural Disaster; It Was Destroyed by U.S. Bombs and Israeli Airstrikes

During his press conference, President Trump talked about Gaza as though it had experienced “bad luck” and was devastated by some natural disaster. He said that Gaza has been a symbol of death and destruction for so long and has been “very unlucky for a long time.” He added: “Being in its presence has just not been good. It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there.”

“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza. I think that Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They’ve lived like hell.”

When asked if Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza, he replied: “It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return,” adding, “I hope that we could do something where they wouldn’t want to go back. Who would want to go back? They’ve experienced nothing but death and destruction.”

Neither the United States nor Israel has the right to ethnically cleanse an Indigenous population from its land. If President Trump goes forward with the forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, he will be committing a war crime that could land him an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, like his friend Netanyahu.

Palestine is in Palestinians’ DNA — our strong attachment to our land is steadfast. It is short-sighted to expect that after nearly a century of suffering and struggle for equality and freedom — not to mention the sacrifices of over 62,000 people massacred in Gaza over the past 16 months and the thousands of Palestinians still languishing in Israeli jails — that Palestinians are going to give up the fight for self-determination and an end to oppression, apartheid and occupation.

Despite Trump’s destructive proposal, the will of Palestinians the world over is crystal clear: Gaza — or any inch of the occupied territory — is not on the market. There will be no real estate development on top of the corpses of thousands of Palestinians. Rest assured that Palestinians will resist the U.S.’s “beautiful” colonization and occupation with everything they’ve got — we will refuse Trump’s vision of turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” with golf courses, casinos and Mar-a-Lago-style resorts.

Keep your hands off of occupied Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.

Michel Moushabeck is a Palestinian American writer, editor, translator and musician. He is the founder and publisher of Interlink Publishing, a 38-year-old, Massachusetts-based, independent publishing house. Most recently, he guest edited the winter issue of the Massachusetts Review titled “A View from Gaza.” Follow him on Instagram @ReadPalestine.

Tlaib Slams Trump’s Ethnic Cleansing Plan: “Palestinians Aren’t Going Anywhere”


Trump “can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide,” she said.

By Sharon Zhang ,

Truthout

February 5, 2025

Rep. Rashida Tlaib is pictured at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today!

Advocates for Palestinian rights are decrying President Donald Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza during his Tuesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and are pointing out that the Biden administration’s support for the genocide in Gaza laid the groundwork for such a plan.

In remarks with Netanyahu, Trump called for the forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, effectively continuing the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza that Israel has carried out over the course of its genocide and for decades before. Instead, Trump said that the U.S. “will take over the Gaza Strip” and develop it.

“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” Trump said in comments ahead of the meeting. “Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative.”

Trump’s comments spurred rage and defiance from advocates for Palestinian rights, who reiterated that Palestinians deserve to live in their homeland without interference from Israel or any other occupying force.

“Palestinians aren’t going anywhere,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), the only Palestinian American in Congress.

Private US Company Is Reportedly Hiring US Veterans to Run Gaza Checkpoint
One of the three companies hired to run the checkpoint is seeking 96 green berets to search Palestinians’ vehicles. By Sharon Zhang , Truthout  January 30, 2025

Tlaib emphasized that the widespread support for Israel’s genocide and occupation of Palestine laid the groundwork for Trump to call for Palestinians’ expulsion.

“This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up,” Tlaib continued.

The lawmaker also criticized Trump for prioritizing a meeting with Netanyahu — his first with a foreign official in his second term — while he and Elon Musk gut the federal government.

“This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal,” Tlaib said. “He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese called Trump’s remark “unlawful, immoral, [and] irresponsible” in a press conference. She said that Trump was calling for forced expulsion — “an international crime.”

“I truly hope that people will stay calm, will not panic, and will remember that the international community is made of 193 states, and this is the time to give the U.S. what it has been looking for: isolation,” she said.

Other advocates said that Trump’s call shows that the resistance to the dispossession and dehumanization of Palestinians must continue under the new administration just as it did under President Joe Biden.

“President Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and have the U.S. ‘take over’ is yet another chapter in the ongoing genocide,” said Abdullah H. Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan. “Deploying U.S. troops and using taxpayer dollars to invade Gaza is morally indefensible. Our commitment to justice remains unshaken, no matter who sits in the White House.”

Advocacy groups emphasized that Trump’s comments are a result of U.S. politicians’ embrace of the Israeli far right, which has long advocated for the total ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

“The last administration provided the weapons to kill tens of thousands of Palestinians, flatten Gaza, and displace nearly the entire population. Now Trump himself is repeating the calls of Israeli right-wing ministers such as [Finance Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir and calling for Palestinians to be permanently and involuntarily expelled, an out-and-out war crime,” said IMEU Policy Project Executive Director Margaret DeReus.

Portraying Trump Plan as 'Voluntary' Migration, Israel Prepares for Forced Displacement of Palestinians

The destruction of Gaza "was primarily the result of Israel's war crimes," said one human rights expert. "They are not rectified by another huge war crime."

Displaced Palestinian families take refuge in tents installed near their damaged homes in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 6, 2025.
(Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Feb 06, 2025

COMMON DREAMS

As U.S. President Donald Trump expanded on his plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza and force Palestinians to resettle against their will in what he said Thursday would be "far safer and more beautiful communities," Israeli officials ordered the military to prepare for the mass exit of the enclave's over 2 million people—claiming the exodus would be "voluntary."

Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested the forced displacement of Palestinians would be an orderly affair, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) preparing "a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them."


He also cast himself as an advocate for "the right to freedom of movement and migration," saying countries such as Spain, Ireland, and Norway—which officially recognized Palestinian statehood last year—"are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory."


Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares countered on a national radio program in Spain that "no one should enter into a debate about where the Palestinians, and in particular Gazan Palestinians, should go."


"The land of the Gazan Palestinians is Gaza," said Albares.

Despite Trump's insistence in a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that Gaza "has been hell" for Palestinians and "is not a place for people to be living," Gaza residents told reporters this week that they "would rather die here than leave this land."


"We have brought our kids up teaching them that they can't leave their home and they can't allow a second Nakba," one resident, Um Tamer Jamal, told Reuters, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians in the late 1940s.

Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), toldAl Jazeera that the plans outlined by Trump and Israeli officials "would potentially amount to ethnic cleansing" and forced displacement.

"And if that forced displacement was done as part of a systematic and widespread attack against the civilian population as a matter of state policy, it would actually be a crime against humanity," he said, adding that while countries are obligated to consider asylum applications by those who are fleeing their homes and attempting to resettle of their own volition, governments "do not have an obligation to participate in the forced displacement of the entire population of the Gaza Strip."

Despite Trump's attempt to "dress up his proposal as an act of benevolence," said former HRW executive director Kenneth Roth, Israel's U.S.-funded destruction of Gaza cannot be "rectified by another huge war crime."



On his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday, Trump said "no soldiers by the U.S. would be needed" in Gaza to complete the plan and that the enclave would be "turned over to the United States by Israel."

His latest remarks contradicted those of some administration officials on Wednesday, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who both suggested the displacement of Palestinians would be "temporary."


Former Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir toldThe Times of Israel that "the voluntary departure of Gaza residents" would be an "important step, which recognizes that the real solution for Gaza is no longer dreams of 'reconstruction' and a return to the previous situation, but a fundamental change in reality."

Netanyahu called Trump's proposal a "remarkable idea" on Thursday, neglecting to mention that he himself said in December 2023 that Israel's relentless U.S.-backed bombardment of Gaza was ultimately aimed at pushing Palestinians toward "voluntary migration" and that Israeli officials were hoping to find countries "willing to absorb" the population.

Hussein Haridy, former assistant foreign minister of Egypt, asserted that the "true purpose" of Trump's plan was "to bury the two-state solution," after decades of the policy proposal being the official objective of the U.S. government.


"Egypt has made its official position clear. We do not see eye to eye with President Trump's plan. We don't think his plan is achievable, or practical," said Haridy. "Egypt has always been committed to a two-state solution, because we believe that without it, insecurity and instability will remain with us in the Middle East."

Rubio Says Trump’s Plan to Expel All Palestinians From Gaza Is “Very Generous”


The secretary of state’s remarks came as Trump faced widespread backlash for his proposal.

By Sharon Zhang ,

Truthout

February 5, 2025

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the media during a joint news conference with Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo at the Culture Palace in Guatemala City on February 5, 2025.Johan Ordonoez / AFP via Getty Images

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza — widely condemned by international officials as incitement to commit human rights violations — is actually “very generous” toward Palestinians.

In remarks, Rubio said that Trump’s suggestion — to strip Palestinians who have already faced decades of Israeli dispossession, occupation and violence and to even further erase Palestine and all of the culture within it — was not meant in a “hostile” manner.

“The billions of dollars that are going to be required for reconstruction are enormous. Some areas have been rendered unlivable now and for the foreseeable future. So what President Trump announced yesterday is the offer, the willingness, of the United States to become responsible for the reconstruction of that area,” Rubio said.

The secretary of state appeared to walk back some of Trump’s statements, claiming that Trump was actually suggesting that Palestinians be displaced temporarily while Gaza is rebuilt.

“People are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it. It is akin to a natural disaster,” Rubio said, ignoring the fact that it is the Israeli military, armed with U.S. weapons and intelligence, that has leveled Gaza and rendered it largely uninhabitable.

“It was not meant as a hostile move, it was meant as a, I think, a very generous move, the offer to rebuild,” Rubio said.

Rubio’s statements appeared to be part of a Trump administration strategy to spin what Trump said and frame displacement and American imperialism as a humanitarian endeavor. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said in a press briefing on Wednesday that Trump was only suggesting for Palestinians to be temporarily moved.

“We’ll own it,” Trump said. “We’re going to take over that piece, develop it and create thousands of thousands of jobs, and it will be something the entire Middle East can be proud of.”

Trump also said that he wanted to “resettle” Palestinians in Gaza “permanently,” in places with less violence and unrest — not acknowledging that Israel, with U.S. sponsorship, has been responsible for the genocide in Gaza and the violence against Palestinians for decades beforehand.

In reality, Trump’s plan, seemingly made without consultation of any Palestinian parties, is a clear call for ethnic cleansing. It would throw millions of Palestinians’ lives into chaos while sowing enormous tension in the Middle East, contributing to even further destabilization. It could also open the door to further expansion of Israeli occupation of Palestine, which has already been ruled illegal by international authorities.

Trump has previously floated plans to redevelop Palestine while totally sidestepping the will of the Palestinian people. In his first term, the administration drew up a $50 billion plan to give Israel control over much of the occupied West Bank and flood foreign investment into Gaza — a plan that opponents noted at the time would violate Palestinians’ right to self-determination and eliminate hopes of a Palestinian state.

Trump Not Just Backing Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza, Says UN Expert: 'It's Worse'


"And in the context of a genocide... it will strengthen the complicity in the crimes that Israel has been committing over the past 15 months and before."


United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese speaks during a February 5, 2025 press conference in Copenhagen.
(Photo: James Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 06, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Francesca Albanese—the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories—on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trump's proposed U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip and expulsion of most of its native inhabitants as something "worse" than ethnic cleansing.

"President Trump, oh, where to start?" Albanese said in Copenhagen on Wednesday, calling the Republican president's plan "utter nonsense."

"And it's unlawful, what he proposes," she continued. "People talk of ethnic cleansing. No, it's worse... it's inciting to commit forced displacement, which is an international crime."

"And in the context of a genocide... it will strengthen the complicity in the crimes that Israel has been committing over the past 15 months and before," Albanese added.




The special rapporteur's condemnation came in response to Trump's Tuesday remarks during a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, which Trump sanctioned on Thursday. The president asserted that "the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip" after emptying the enclave of most of its native Palestinian population.

"We'll own it," Trump said, adding that "we're going to develop it" and turn Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

Palestinians roundly rejected and derided Trump's proposal, while Netanyahu said Israel would study the plan.

"It's unlawful, immoral, and irresponsible," Albanese said Wednesday. "It will make the regional crisis even worse."

Trump doubled down on his proposal in an early Thursday morning post on his Truth Social website.

"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting," he said. "The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free."

It is not clear what Trump's reference to the Democratic U.S. senator from New York meant.

Israel—which was founded 77 years ago largely through the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians—has been accused of seeking to permanently remove Gazans, most of whom are descendants of survivors of the 1948 expulsions, to make way for the renewed Jewish colonization of the coastal enclave.

"No one has the right to say how Gaza will be rebuilt other than the Palestinians."

Trump has proposed relocating Gazans to Egypt and Jordan, a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention rejected by Palestinians, Egyptians, and Jordanians alike.


While ethnic cleansing, a term coined during the Balkan wars of the late 20th century, is not explicitly a crime under any international law, the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice accuses the U.S.-backed nation of offenses including the forced displacement of around 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

"This is a population of genocide survivors and they need to be rescued before thinking of who's going to rebuild Gaza," Albanese said in Copenhagen. "No one has the right to say how Gaza will be rebuilt other than the Palestinians."

Democratic State AGs Vow to Fight Trump's Attacks on Transgender People



"We will not let the president turn back the clock or deter us from upholding California values," said Rob Bonta, the state's attorney general.


Republican U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order aiming to ban transgender women and girls from female sports teams, at the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 5, 2025.

(Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 05, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

Fifteen Democratic state attorneys issued a joint statement Wednesday vowing to protect access to gender-affirming healthcare amid the Trump administration's attacks on transgender people, which include a new executive order aiming to ban trans girls and women from competing on female sports teams.

"We stand firmly in support of healthcare policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people," the attorneys general said in a statement decrying Republican President Donald Trump's January 28 executive order banning federal support for gender-affirming care—which the president described as "chemical and surgical mutilation"—for young adults and minors under the age of 19.

"Healthcare decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms," the statement continues. "Gender-affirming care is essential, lifesaving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves."




"The Trump administration's recent executive order is wrong on the science and the law," the attorneys general asserted. "Despite what the Trump administration has suggested, there is no connection between 'female genital mutilation' and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by executive order."

"State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care, in states where such enforcement authority exists, and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions," they added.

The attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin signed the statement.

"California supports the rights of transgender youth to live their lives as their authentic selves," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Wednesday. "We will not let the president turn back the clock or deter us from upholding California values."

"I understand that the president's executive order on gender-affirming care has created some confusion," Bonta added. "Let me be clear: California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to healthcare services."

The statement from the 15 attorneys general came on the same day that Trump signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" that directs the Department of Education—which the president has vowed to abolish—to notify school districts that allowing transgender girls and women to compete on female teams violates Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education.

The executive order also directs the administration to "convene representatives of major athletic organizations and governing bodies, and female athletes harmed by such policies," and "convene state attorneys general to identify best practices in defining and enforcing equal opportunities for women to participate in sports and educate them about stories of women and girls who have been harmed by male participation in women's sports."


Wednesday's directive is the latest salvo in Trump's war on transgender people, which includes a day one executive order declaring that only two genders exist, another order advocating action against educators who "facilitate the social transition of a minor," a reinstatement of his first-term ban on new military enlistment by trans people—who, according to the White House, cannot lead an "honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle"—nominating a transphobe to head the Justice Department's civil rights office, and scrubbing all mention of transgender people and issues from federal agency websites.

Trans people and their allies are fighting back. Lawsuits have been filed challenging restrictions on access to gender-affirming healthcare and the transfer of transgender women inmates to men's prisons. On Wednesday, a federal judge appointed by former Republican President Ronald Reagan temporarily blocked federal prisons from moving transgender women to men's facilities and cutting off their access to hormone therapy, citing the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. At least two federal judges have also issued temporary restraining orders on Trump administration efforts to freeze funding for federal agencies and programs.


Protests in defense of gender-affirming healthcare and other trans rights have also taken place at hospitals and other locations across the country as Trump and allies including Department of Government Efficiency chief Elon Musk pressure the U.S. Treasury Department to defund any programs specifically helping transgender and other LGBTQ+ people.

"The protection of marginalized communities will not come solely from elected officials or bureaucratic processes—it will come from sustained, organized resistance," trans rights activist Erin Reed wrote Wednesday. "History shows that real power lies not in centralized institutions but in the collective action of those who refuse to be divided."

"Authoritarian governments rely on fragmentation, banking on the idea that the public will see themselves as isolated rather than interconnected," Reed added. "As protests grow and solidarity strengthens across movements, the coming months may test just how powerful a unified public can be."

NCAA 'Cravenly Caves' to Trump, Banning Trans Women From Female Sports

"Great fucking job, NCAA. You're now a part of Donald Trump's anti-trans hate machine seeking to push trans people out of public life and make their lives as difficult as possible," said one critic.


Counter-protestors gather to support transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 17, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
(Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Feb 06, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced Thursday that its board of governors voted to update the NCAA's participation policy for transgender student-athletes in response to Republican U.S. President Donald Trump signing an executive order intended to ban trans girls and women from competing on female sports teams

The NCAA is a nonprofit that regulates sports for 1,100 colleges and universities that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes. Its new policy says that "regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and compete) with a men's team, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements."

However, the policy says, student-athletes who were assigned male at birth or assigned female at birth and have begun hormone therapy such as testosterone can continue to practice with women's teams but cannot compete with them.

According to The Hill, "Previously, the NCAA policy said transgender participation in each sport depended on guidelines set by the sport’s national or international governing body." NCAA president Charlie Baker, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, recently told Congress that fewer than 10 trans athletes competed across the organization's three divisions.

Baker claimed in a Thursday statement that "President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard," and the organization's new policy "follows through on the NCAA's constitutional commitment to deliver intercollegiate athletics competition and to protect, support, and enhance the mental and physical health of student-athletes."

While Trump celebrated the policy update on social media Thursday, advocates for LGBTQ+ rights have forcefully criticized both the NCAA and the Republican president.

Responding to the NCAA's decision on the social media site Bluesky, Law Dork's Chris Geidner decried the "unbelievable depths of spinelessness with such cruel, unnecessary ramifications."

"Great fucking job, NCAA. You're now a part of Donald Trump's anti-trans hate machine seeking to push trans people out of public life and make their lives as difficult as possible," he added. "Charlie Baker, this is on you."

Jack Turban said on Bluesky that he was resigning from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. The doctor told The Hill that he and other panel members were not notified of the board's vote before the public statement.

"Trump and Republicans are picking out a tiny portion of the population, vilifying them, and stoking fear. That's dangerous and has real consequences," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on social media Thursday afternoon. "I want to be clear: Americans do have concerns about fairness in sports, and it's important that we have those conversations and educate people about the facts. But actions like Trump's are not the answer."


"We should be focusing on the real obstacles that female athletes face, like a lack of financial resources and vulnerability to abuse. Instead, Republicans are attacking a group that represents less than a fraction of 1% of student-athletes," said Jayapal, who has a trans daughter. "This is a manufactured crisis—one that serves to distract you from the fact that Trump and Republicans ran on raising wages and lowering costs, but have no real solutions to help you build a better life."

"They are trying to get you to look the other way. Don't," she added. "And to the trans community—I know this is all incredibly difficult. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this, but please know that I see you, I stand with you, and I will NEVER stop fighting for you. That's a promise."

The president's order is already having an impact beyond the NCAA policy change. As The Washington Postreported Thursday:
Trump's executive order directs the Department of Education to inform schools they will be violating Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, if they allow transgender athletes to compete in girls' or women's sports. Under the law, schools that discriminate based on sex are not eligible for federal funding.

In response, the Department of Education earlier Thursday announced investigations into the University of Pennsylvania, San José State University, and a Massachusetts high school athletic association over reported Title IX violations. Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association are targeted for allowing transgender students to play on a women's swimming team and girls' high school basketball team, respectively. Several opponents of the San José State women's volleyball team forfeited games this fall because the Spartans purportedly had a transgender athlete on its roster.

The newspaper noted that the NCAA's decision came two days after former teammates of swimmer Lia Thomas filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court claiming Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the Ivy League, and the NCAA violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in 2022 championships.

Right-wing writer who called drag queens groomers arrested for child molestation

NOT JUST PROJECTION BUT TRANSFERANCE

Image via Flickr.

Maya Boddie

February 07, 2025

ALTERNET

Aaron Craig Gleason, a former writer for The Federalist and Daily Wire — both right-wing news outlets — was arrested last month "for molesting a victim under the age of 12, according to Okaloosa, Florida jail records," Daily Dot reported Thursday.

The irony in Gleason's crime, according to Daily Dot, is that in 2023, the ex-conservative pundit wrote a review published by The Federalist "about The Sound of Freedom, an indie hit and a favorite among right-wing circles."

The plot of the film involves "a former government agent who is trying to save children from sex traffickers in Colombia," which Gleason made a point to highlight as a Republican, anti-LGBTQ writer.

"The children are by far the best and worst part of this film," wrote Gleason in his review.

“It’s about the children—lost, invisible children who suffer in the depths of hell every single day. While the rich and powerful try to indoctrinate us with critical race theory and other ideological moralisms, true victims suffer in literal cages and chains."

Daily Dot notes, in addition to being a writer, Gleason was also an educator, according to his now deleted LinkedIn account.

"According to a local news site, he taught Bible at Rocky Bayou Christian School, which has two campuses in Florida," the news outlet reports.

Three days after his arrest, Gleason was released on $75,000 bail.

Daily Dot's full report is available at this link.

'Collateral damage': Trans people 'disgusted' by MAGA — and the Democratic Party

(Photo courtesy Frankie Perez)
Frankie Perez in his Air National Guard uniform.

Michael Lyle,

 Nevada Current

February 06, 2025

For the last seven months, Frankie Perez has been collecting paperwork, scheduling appointments and taking every needed step to return to the Air National Guard.

Perez, 38, had previously served four years in active duty before leaving in 2015. While he served six years as a reservist, his goal was always to return to active duty.

He is scheduled to take his physical examination as a precursor to returning to service later this month. But, Perez doesn’t know if President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people, like him, serving in the military will prevent him from returning to service.

“I started all of this before Trump got back into the White House and before all of this happened,” Perez said. “I mean, I knew he was running. I knew what this could mean, and here we are.”

Like many trans people across the country, Perez is uncertain what his future looks like because of Trump’s escalated actions targeting the trans communi

Along with actions to prohibit trans people from military service, Trump has issued several other anti-trans orders, including one to block federal support for gender-affirming medical care to patients younger than 19 and one to ban access to restrooms in federal agencies.

“I was wondering if my recruiter was gonna send me a text to say ‘don’t go,’ but she hasn’t, ” Perez said. “From a legal standpoint, I’ve reached out to somebody who’s in the military that’s actually a lawyer. I may want to fight back if I get a hard no.”

The State Department is no longer issuing U.S. passports with “X” gender markers while the White House has required pronouns be removed from email signatures.

RockAthena Brittain, who is trans, said the moves by the Trump administration are setting the stage “in the public’s mind and in the legal discourse” that paints a picture that “transgender people are dangerous criminals and destroying lives.”

In his most recent action, Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to ban trans people from playing sports that align with their gender identity.

“Where do we go if we have no place in public or private life?” she said. “It sounds like death to me.”

Trans people and LGBTQ+ serving groups in Nevada said these recent actions have created a lot of fear and unease in the community.

Some say the lack of response from Democratic elected officials to the assault on trans rights is also troubling.

Brittain, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2024 in a Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, said she is “disgusted by the so-called Democratic leadership” for not doing more amid growing anti-trans rhetoric.

Democrats, she said, aren’t willing to stand up for the trans community while trans people are “being stripped of our lives.”


“Obviously I’m disgusted with MAGA,” she said.

But Brittain is also disturbed by members of her own party “turning their backs” and pretending it’s fine for trans people to be “collateral damage” out of convenience.

“I don’t think that these democrats on any level are willing to stand up and actually sacrifice themselves for the people that they are supposed to represent,” Brittain said.
‘People are really scared’


Since Trump won the presidency, AJ Huth, director of public affairs and civic engagement for the LGBTQ Center in Las Vegas, said they have received non-stop calls and emails from the community.

“People are really scared,” Huth said. “There is this extra vigilance we all have now.”

Andre Wade, the Nevada director for Silver State Equality, said he’s not surprised by the pace of Trump’s actions against the LGBTQ+ community, specifically the trans community,

“It’s spelled out in Project 2025,” Wade said of the ultra-conservative blueprint for the next Republican president that Trump has been using to draft orders and actions.


The playbook, originally drafted by the Heritage Foundation, outlines numerous anti-LGBTQ policies.

“Trump and the MAGA folks have been signaling they are going to be going this route,” he said. “These orders really point to an attempt to erase trans people and gender-diverse people at the federal level through policy and programs that have been in place.”

These executive orders at their core, Wade said, defines “who the Trump administration thinks are rightful Americans.”

But the orders, in particular the effort to ban trans people from the military, puts America “at a greater risk.”

“With the recent confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, our national security is in a more precarious position than ever,” he said. “We are also greatly disturbed by the sheer amount of animus present in the executive order—President Trump seems to relish belittling and harassing members of the transgender community.”

Many of Trump’s orders have faced legal challenges that have delayed implementation.

Even if they aren’t able to be fully enforced, Wade said they will still be detrimental to the trans community.

The orders would have “a huge impact on people’s mental health, their sense of safety, their well being and security in knowing they too are part of the American dream,” he said. “We are part of the American dream. We are part of the American fabric.”

Huth said the attacks, while scary, aren’t anything new.

The LGBTQ community in general, she said, has “been the political football for the last 30 years.”

“We’ve made a lot of progress and we know how to fight,” she said. “We know how to keep ourselves safe.”

Huth said she tried to be optimistic at first since the state has passed laws enhancing protections around gender identity and sexual orientation.

In 2023, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo signed several trans protections, including preventing insurance companies from discriminating against trans people on the basis of gender identity..

“At the beginning I was optimistic because Nevada is awesome,” Huth said. “We have some awesome protections so let’s hang in there and take it one day at a time because we’re going to be OK.”

Huth has been unable to figure out if Nevada’s protections could offer some protections to the trans community from the Trump administration’s multiple orders..

“I’ve asked that question to a bunch of people and nobody really knows the answer,” Huth said.

As actions keep rolling out, Huth said she has spoken to “a lot of people in our community who feel very betrayed right now” by some of the Democratic elected officials’ response, or lack thereof.

Huth said she’s beginning to lose confidence in Democratic members of Congress, including those from Nevada.

“People who have been elected who have historically been more progressive Democrats are kind of giving in…That’s a concern. I don’t really understand it.”

Huth declined to name particular elected officials who are undermining her optimism.

Brittain doesn’t share much of the optimism to begin with.

She said she has talked to other trans people who have told her they are optimistic and “hoping for the best.”

But at the same time, “There’s a lot of people in the trans community in this state who are scared to death, who don’t share that hope, who don’t know what to do, because they don’t have enough information or resources,” Brittain said.

Brittain thinks it might be time to leave the state.

“Nevada is not going to protect my family,” she said.

But the question is, if Nevada isn’t safe, where is?
‘We need them to stay in the game’

Five days before Trump’s inauguration, the Republican-controlled House voted 218-206 to pass legislation banning trans girls from competing in women’s sports. The bill hasn’t been taken up in the Senate.

Nevada’s entire Democratic House delegation voted against it.

While Lee said the bill was an overreach, in a statement last month she said “I do not support transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports when fairness or safety is compromised.”

“While I believe governing athletic bodies, like the NCAA, have been slow and inconsistent in updating their policies, the answer is not for the U.S. Congress to institute a nationwide ban for all ages,” Lee said in her statement. “This is an extremely complicated issue that requires very serious deliberation and updated rulemaking by appropriate governing athletic bodies to address the portion of athletics where fairness or safety is an issue.”

Nevada Current sent Lee questions about her statement, including if she would support another version of a legislation restricting trans from sports, and how she plans to address the attacks against the trans community in general.

Her office declined to answer.

The Current also sent Reps. Steven Horsford and Dina Titus questions about how they plan to respond to actions targeting the transgender community.

In an email, Dick Cooper, a spokesman for Titus, said she “always has and always will stand up for the rights of transgender people.” Cooper also pointed to bill Titus has supported, the GLOBE Act, that seeks to protect LGBTQ+ rights internationally.

“Congressman Horsford is focused on defending his constituents, especially those most vulnerable to Trump’s attacks like the trans community,” his office said in an email.

Horsford also cosponsored the Ensuring Military Readiness Not Discrimination Act, which “prohibit all forms of discrimination in our Armed Services, including actions targeting trans individuals.”

Huth urged Democrats to “keep fighting for all of us” and not abandon the trans community.

“Don’t think, ‘oh, we can take a break and be a little transphobic but we don’t have to be homophobic,” Huth said. “It doesn’t work like that. We need them to stay in the game.”
‘One day at a time’

Perez was already serving in the Air Force National Guard when he came out as trans.

“I told folks in my squadron right away, and they were very supportive. It was a small adjustment, but we made it happen.”

While he decided to request an early exit from active duty in 2015 due to personal and family issues, Perez always hoped to return.

Since then, Perez has started a family, went back to school and began organizing with Make the Road Nevada.

Trump signed an executive action banning trans people during his first term preventing Perez from returning to the Guard.

By the time President Joe Biden took office and reversed the ban, Perez was a new father.

The call to return to active duty still weighed on Perez. In early 2024, he decided to take steps to return.

Perez is determined to serve. He said the reason he wants to join the Nevada Air National Guard is to be able to help Nevadans specifically in the face of an emergency.

Huth said the Center is monitoring safety and funding issues at other centers across the country but hasn’t faced in particular threats to either so far.

“As far as the Center goes, we are going to continue to give great primary care and continue to do testing and offer pharmacy services so people can get the medicines they need,” Huth said. “We are going to keep going and take it one day at a time.”

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.

Federal Judge Blocks Transfer of 3 Trans Women to Men’s Prison


Trans people face a heightened risk of violence when confined in prison facilities that don’t align with their gender.

By Zane McNeill ,

 Truthout

February 5, 2025

A New York City Department of Corrections bus leaves the City Island Ferry Station in New York.Don Emmert / AFP via Getty Images

Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size.

On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the White House from transferring three transgender women to men’s prisons and denying them gender-affirming health care in compliance with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order.

“Once again, Trump’s executive orders are blocked by judges based on their questionable legality,” LGBTQ legislative researcher Allison Chapman told Truthout. “I can’t imagine the relief felt by these incarcerated transgender individuals upon hearing that they will no longer be forcibly detransitioned.”

The order — one of many anti-trans measures Trump has implemented since taking office — requires the federal government to recognize only two sexes, male and female. It also directs the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to house incarcerated people according to this definition, bans federal funding for gender-affirming care for those in custody, and overrides protections under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) for vulnerable populations, including transgender women.

The plaintiffs, identified by pseudonyms in court filings, are represented by attorneys from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). Until January, they had been housed in women’s units, but were recently removed from the general population and placed in segregation with other transgender women while awaiting transfer to men’s facilities.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, granted their request for a temporary restraining order just hours after a hearing in which a plaintiffs’ attorney argued that the placement of transgender women in men’s prisons subjects them to a substantial risk of violence and sexual assault, constituting cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Related Story

Incarcerated Trans Woman Sues Trump Over Anti-Trans Order Redefining “Sex”
The lawsuit claims Executive Order 14166 caused the woman distress and endangers her safety. By Zane McNeill , Truthout January 28, 2025

“They were terrified at the prospect of these transfers given the serious risk of violence and sexual assault that they face in these men’s facilities,” Jennifer Levi, an attorney with GLAD, told the judge.

“There is no way to keep these women safe outside of a women’s prison,” Levi continued. “We are just asking this court to maintain the status quo.”

Lamberth’s ruling extends further than a January 26 decision by a federal judge in Massachusetts which applied to a single transgender woman in a women’s prison. Instead, Lamberth’s order prevents officials from “implementing” the contested provisions while the case moves forward.

In his ruling, Lamberth noted that the government did not dispute the plaintiffs’ claim that transgender people face a heightened risk of physical and sexual violence when confined in prisons that align with their assigned sex at birth. He also pointed out that only about 16 transgender women are currently housed in women’s prisons, including the three plaintiffs in this case, which challenges the state’s claim that allowing transgender women in women’s facilities has some “deleterious effect on privacy and security.”

“And it is hard to cognize of any public interest in the immediate cessation of their hormone therapy — aside, perhaps, from whatever small sum of money the BOP may save by ceasing administration of these drugs, or the abstract interest in the enforcement of Executive branch policy decisions,” Lamberth wrote in the order. “The plaintiffs’ interests, on the other hand, are not abstract at all.”

Despite Lamberth ruling that the incarcerated transgender women have “demonstrated that irreparable harm will follow if their [temporary restraining order] request is denied,” documents newly obtained by NPR show that a new BOP policy will further erode their rights and protections. The policy mandates that transgender women in federal prisons surrender female-identifying clothing and commissary items, including women’s razors and hair care products.

The policy also eliminates trainings that “inculcate or promote gender ideology or have done so in the past” and shuts down group programs that “promote gender ideology,” which may include support and group therapy. Additionally, it removes the “transgender visual and pat search exception,” which had allowed incarcerated transgender people to request a guard who matches their gender identity — a protection that helped reduce the risk of sexual assault and other forms of violence. It remains unclear how Lamberth’s order will impact this policy.

Kara Janssen, an attorney representing the three transgender women challenging Trump’s anti-trans executive order, told NPR that the new BOP policy not only violates multiple federal laws, including PREA, but is also “mean and spiteful.”

“It’s stripping away their identities,” Janssen said. “It’s going to create less safe environments for everybody.”