WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump was holding a roundtable event with conservative influencers about antifa Wednesday when secretary of state Marco Rubio, standing in the back corner of the White House’s Blue Room, caught his eye. He had news for Trump, he said, but it would have to wait until after the media left. Then Rubio passed the president a note. An AP photographer covering the event zoomed in on the handwriting on White House stationery that read, “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 said. “So we’ll take a couple of more questions.” The influencer event had already been going on for more than an hour when Rubio first approached. The president invited him to come in, and Rubio whispered something to Trump before handing him the note. The note’s urgent tone came as Trump’s top Middle East adviser, Steve Witkoff, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and other senior officials joined a third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas at an Egyptian resort Wednesday – a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza. Trump had kicked off the influencer event by telling assembled journalists that he planned to travel to the Middle East “toward the end of the week” and could even “make the rounds” in the region to Egypt and possibly the Gaza Strip as U.S. negotiators closed in on 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!”
