'Moving the goalposts of crazy': Trump adviser astonished by president's message

President Donald Trump shocked the world by proclaiming Gaza as belonging to the U.S., but a longtime adviser tried to make sense of the pronouncement.

World leaders and lawmakers from both parties denounced his stated goal of taking over the war-torn Gaza Strip, displacing its residents and turning the devastated region into a seaside resort, and possibly deploying U.S. troops to collect unexploded bombs, and sources told Axios co-founder Mike Allen the unexpected announcement could have been a negotiating tactic.

"It was a wild bluff — or bluster — to gain leverage in the Middle East. It's like threats of trade tariffs against Canada and Mexico — all-consumingly controversial, yet instantly ephemeral," Allen wrote. "This strikes most Republicans as the right interpretation."

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Some officials suspect another motivation in the proclamation Trump made during a joint news conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"It fuses several Trump obsessions — his hope for a grand Middle East peace deal, his belief Gaza will be a hellhole for decades to come, and his genuine intrigue about developing the seaside land," Allen wrote. "U.S. officials tell us Trump's words were premeditated, and mirror ideas he floated to some staff and family members privately."

Trump later explained that he envisioned "the world people" living in a rebuilt Gaza, which he said could be "the Riviera of the Middle East," after Palestinians were displaced to neighboring counties, and one longtime adviser suspects he might be enacting his "madman theory" of diplomacy.

"He's moving the goalposts of crazy," the adviser told Axios. "This time around, he's not intimidated by headlines or pundits: He's gonna throw out there whatever he feels like throwing out there."

That adviser explained that Trump might be sending a threatening message to the Middle East to push for peace.

"I can make it a lot worse for you guys," that source said, "or you can come up with a better plan."

Trump campaigned on ending foreign wars, but his announcement may have undermined those stated hopes.

"The Saudis were furious with both Trump's idea, and his claim they would accept a deal that does not include a Palestinian state, sources tell Axios' Barak Ravid," Allen wrote. "Behind the scenes: A source close to Trump said the Gaza overture was Trump's own idea, and he had been thinking about it for at least two months, Barak reports."