Northern Ireland Leader Refuses to Attend White House Events Over Trump's Comments on 'Forced Expulsion' of Gaza

The First Minister of Northern Ireland has stated that she will not attend any events at the White House all year round in protest of Trump's planned takeover of the now-decimated Gaza Strip.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill took to social media, posting a video of herself onto X (formerly Twitter) where she outlined the reasons for her actions.

"As First Minister, I've decided not to attend the White House events this year," she wrote in the caption.

"The US President's comments on forced expulsion of the Palestinian people of Gaza cannot be ignored. I will continue to engage with senior figures in the US for peace and economic growth," O'Neill continued.

"In the future, when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did while the Palestinian people endured unimaginable suffering, I will say I stood firmly on the side of humanity."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his proposal for the Gaza Strip following Israel's assault upon the region, which has left over 64,000 Palestinians dead and has destroyed or damaged 66% of buildings, amounting to 163,778 structures, within the Strip.

In a post on Truth Social, the 47th President expressed his goal of relocating Palestinians away from Gaza while rebuilding the Strip itself into the "Riviera of the Middle East." Once construction was complete within the Strip, however, Palestinians would not have the right to return to their homeland, indicating permanent displacement.

"The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth," Trump wrote, talking about his planned redevelopment for the Gaza Strip.

Other Irish politicians have expressed sharp criticisms of Trump's plan to displace almost 2 million Palestinians to rebuild Gaza. Ireland's largest opposition party, Sinn Fein, stated that it planned to skip its traditional visit to the White House for St. Patrick's Day celebrations in protest of Trump's proposal, according to Times of Israel.

"There is an onus on us to act when we believe the US administration is wrong, catastrophically so in the case of Palestine," party leader Mary Lou McDonald stated at a joint press party conference alongside O'Neill.

McDonald further expressed that she would refuse to visit Washington "while there was a threat of mass expulsion hanging over the Palestinian people."