Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, attended a ceremony on Wednesday in the Gush Etzion community of Efrat in which he helped lay bricks and pour cement for new houses. Huckabee was so overcome with emotion that he said he may one day come to live in the city.

“I’m building, because I one day might want to purchase a holiday home here in Efrat,” he told journalists.

Speaking in front of a banner that read “Build Israel Great Again,” Huckabee cited President Trump’s background as a real estate developer, saying the president also would have enjoyed the event.

“If President Trump could be here today, he would be a very happy man, happy because he is a builder and he loves to see construction sites. He loves to see things that are being built. That is his life,” said Huckabee. “What is being built here is really a bridge to peace. For those who might think that is not possible, it is what we are seeing with our own eyes.”

The ceremony celebrated the construction of 900 new homes, 600 of which are in the final stages of building.

His daughter, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, is the president’s spokesperson, however, the former governor insisted his remarks were not directed from the White House.

“I’m not speaking for my government. I’m speaking for myself and God,” Huckabee said.