President Donald Trump was hosting a round-table with conservative influencers on antifa Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing in the back corner of the White House’s Blue Room, caught his attention.
Rubio had news for Trump, he said, but it would have to wait until after the media departed. He then handed the president a note.
An AP photographer covering the event captured the handwriting on White House stationery: “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”
“I was just given a note by the secretary of state saying that we’re very close to a deal on the Middle East, and they’re gonna need me pretty quickly,” Trump told the audience. “So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”
The influencer event had been underway for over an hour when Rubio approached. Trump invited him in, and Rubio whispered before passing him the note.
The note’s urgency coincided with a third day of Middle East peace talks in Egypt, attended by Trump’s top adviser Steve Witkoff, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and other senior officials — signalling that negotiators were tackling the most complex elements of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.
Trump had opened the influencer event by telling journalists he intended to travel to the Middle East “toward the end of the week” and might “make the rounds” in the region, including Egypt and possibly the Gaza Strip, as U.S. negotiators neared a deal.
Still, even after Rubio passed Trump the note, Trump continued to talk to the influencers and take questions from the media as the secretary of state became visibly anxious.
Nearly 10 minutes after his initial comments about leaving, Trump said: “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East — although I’m very well represented by our secretary of state. He could probably do an even better job than me, but who knows.”
“We don’t want to take any chances. So we’re going to go and do that,” Trump added.
He then suggested Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stay and take questions in his absence. However, Trump continued to take questions before the event finally broke up without Cabinet members remaining behind.
“We’re gonna get peace in the Middle East,” Trump wrapped up by saying. “That’s what we want to do.”
The public didn't have to wait all too long for the formal confirmation. At 6:51 p.m. — just about two hours after Rubio initially passed Trump the note — the president triumphantly took to his social media platform for the announcement.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying that means all hostages will be released “very soon” while Israel will withdraw their troops “to an agreed upon line.”
Trump added: “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
(With AP Inputs)
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