New Details on Trump, Kushner, Blair, And Dermer White House Meeting on Gaza Future

The meeting President Donald Trump called on Wednesday to discuss a post-war framework for Gaza included two expected guests; Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair — and a surprise addition: Israeli minister Ron Dermer.

Dermer told senior U.S. officials that Israel does not seek to permanently occupy Gaza, but needs a viable alternative to Hamas in order to transfer governance. Trump gave Kushner and Blair the green light to continue working on such a plan, though no one yet has an answer to who could ultimately take control of Gaza.

The discussion lasted more than an hour and included Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and other top administration figures.

Kushner and Blair outlined concepts they had previously spoken about with Witkoff and others, but this was their first time presenting them directly to Trump.

“They tried to give an idea of how Gaza could be governed and how you create an environment for investment so that reconstruction can happen. The goal was to run the ideas by Trump to see if he likes them and want to move forward, so that Witkoff and Rubio can use them,” a source with direct knowledge said.

Near the end of the meeting, Trump asked for an Israeli perspective and had his staff bring in Dermer, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s closest adviser.

Dermer had been at the White House to brief Rubio and Witkoff on Israel’s military blueprint for seizing Gaza City and implementing a humanitarian surge during the campaign, two sources told Axios.

“The president wanted to hear from him what are Israel’s needs and red lines in a day-after scenario,” one source explained.

According to one source, Dermer emphasized that Israel does not intend to stay in Gaza permanently and has no interest in expelling its Palestinian population, despite calls from some Israeli politicians to do so. Instead, Israel wants to see control transferred to a governing body that is not Hamas.

“Dermer’s message was: As long as our conditions are met, we will be flexible about everything else,” the source said.

Crafting a “day-after” vision for Gaza is central to any diplomatic push to conclude a war that has already taken more than 62,000 Palestinian lives over two years.

Still, rebuilding a devastated Gaza and creating a security and political framework acceptable to all parties will be an enormous challenge.

Although Wednesday’s White House session did not yield firm conclusions, it underscored that the main unresolved issue remains who could assume authority in Gaza once Hamas is removed, according to the sources.

Israel’s campaign to capture Gaza City — which Trump has openly backed — is expected to intensify in the coming weeks.

Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, while Netanyahu faces mounting domestic and international pressure to accept. For now, Netanyahu continues the military push, and it is unclear whether the U.S. post-war planning will alter his stance.

A source familiar with Kushner’s and Blair’s efforts said their project is still in progress and it remains uncertain how long it will take to finalize a detailed plan.

So far, they have not determined who would govern Gaza or ensure security there. But Washington views their work as essential groundwork to be ready once Israel’s campaign concludes.
“The goal is for the U.S. to lead the effort to find an internationally accepted governance structure in Gaza that will allow Israel to pull out without deteriorating back to the old reality again from a security standpoint,” the source said.