On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, the White House became the stage for high-stakes discussions about Gaza’s uncertain future, as President Donald Trump convened a meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East envoy. The session, held in the Oval Office and lasting over an hour, was described by officials as a policy meeting—one of many the Trump team has held as the war in Gaza grinds into its third year and the humanitarian crisis deepens.
According to Axios and Reuters, Blair and Kushner presented ideas for a “day after” plan, focusing on what comes next for Gaza once Israel’s military campaign ends. The meeting also included Steve Witkoff, Trump’s foreign envoy, and other senior administration aides. The agenda was broad: governance of Gaza, humanitarian assistance, security arrangements, boosting food aid deliveries, resolving the ongoing hostage crisis, and shaping proposals for the territory’s future.
Little is known about the specifics of the plan discussed. As CNN reported, the contours of Trump’s post-war vision remain largely under wraps. The White House, for its part, offered scant details. “President Trump has been clear that he wants the war to end, and he wants peace and prosperity for everyone in the region. The White House has nothing additional to share on the meeting at this time,” a White House official told CNN.
Yet the context and personalities involved reveal much about the stakes and the controversy. Tony Blair’s legacy is indelibly marked by his push for the US-UK war on Iraq in 2003, a decision later criticized by a British inquiry for relying on misleading intelligence. Blair, now leading the Tony Blair Institute, has been involved in post-war planning for Gaza, but his organization has denied any involvement in proposals for the forcible relocation of Gaza’s residents. “The think-tank had said it 'has had many calls with different groups on post-war reconstruction of Gaza but none have included the idea of forcible relocation of people from Gaza,'” reported Global Banking and Finance Review.
Kushner, meanwhile, has deep personal ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—ties that go back decades. During Trump’s first term, Kushner was a key architect of Middle East policy, often acting as a bridge between Washington and regional leaders. Though he holds no formal role in the current administration, sources told CNN that Kushner has been quietly advising officials on Middle East issues since Trump returned to office in January 2025. One of his focus areas: what happens to Gaza after the guns fall silent.
For months, the Trump administration has struggled to articulate a post-war vision for Gaza that satisfies both Israeli security demands and international calls for humanitarian relief. Trump himself has floated controversial ideas. In February 2025, he proposed a US takeover of Gaza, the removal of its residents, and redevelopment into a “Middle Eastern Riviera”—a plan that drew immediate and widespread condemnation. Rights experts and the United Nations labeled it “ethnic cleansing,” and Saudi Arabia “unequivocally rejected” the forced displacement of Palestinians. Forcible displacement is illegal under international law, a fact not lost on critics. Trump framed the plan as a bold redevelopment project, echoing an idea Kushner had suggested more than a year earlier: clearing Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants and transforming it into lucrative waterfront property. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent—in a really magnificent area,” Trump said, as quoted by The Independent. But after the backlash, the proposal was quietly shelved.
Despite the controversy, the administration has pressed on with efforts to craft a “comprehensive and humanitarian” post-war plan. Steve Witkoff, the president’s envoy, told Fox News the evening before the meeting that “it’s a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together on the next day that I think many people are going to be—they’re going to see how robust it is and how well-meaning it is. And it reflects President Trump’s humanitarian motives here.” He also suggested optimism that the war could end by the close of 2025, although no concrete ceasefire appears imminent.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza looms large over any planning. The territory, devastated by nearly two years of war since the October 2023 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw about 250 hostages taken, is now facing famine and mass displacement. Gaza health authorities report over 62,000 Palestinians killed since the Israeli assault began, and images of starving children have shocked the world. Sam Rose, acting director of Gaza operations for the UN Relief and Works Agency, painted a grim picture: “You’ve got a population that’s living in abject fear, in abject cruelty, abject humiliation, that has no control whatsoever over their day-to-day, their minute-to-minute lives. Just think for a minute about what that means for any human being, but what it means for parents, what it means for children who’ve grown up knowing nothing but this,” he told the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu faces mounting domestic pressure to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Critics accuse him of prolonging the war for political reasons, while Netanyahu blames Hamas for the ongoing violence and insists that criticism of Israel only emboldens the militant group. The US and Israel remain adamant that Hamas will not be allowed to govern Gaza once the fighting ends, but this leaves open the crucial question: who will provide security and basic services?
Some US allies have moved to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks, but Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told Reuters after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that there would be no Palestinian state. The lack of clarity on Gaza’s governance and reconstruction is a major sticking point, and the Trump administration’s blueprint—if one exists in detail—remains largely behind closed doors.
For now, the White House’s approach seems to be to gather input from a wide array of actors, including Blair and Kushner, and to keep its cards close to the vest. The Tony Blair Institute’s involvement in post-war planning has been limited to reconstruction ideas, not population transfers. Witkoff has been in regular contact with both Blair and Kushner for several months, seeking to coordinate a strategy that might gain traction with regional partners. Blair met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in July to brief him on discussions in Washington, while Kushner has reportedly kept Netanyahu in the loop.
As the war drags on, the humanitarian toll grows, and the political calculations in Washington, Jerusalem, and Ramallah shift, one thing is clear: the future of Gaza remains deeply uncertain. Trump’s meeting with Blair and Kushner may signal renewed efforts to chart a path forward, but with so many competing interests and so little agreement on the basics—who will control Gaza, how its people will be treated, and what role the US will play—there are more questions than answers.
The world watches, waiting for signs of real progress. For Gaza’s people, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
