US President Donald Trump was holding a roundtable with conservative influencers about Antifa on Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing in the back of the White House’s Blue Room, got his attention.Rubio said he had news for Trump but it would have to wait until after the media left. Then he handed the president a note.An AP photographer captured the note, written on White House stationery, which read, “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”Trump told the media, “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. So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”Also Read | ‘Great day’: Donald Trump announces Israel-Hamas ‘sign off’ on first stage of US-brokered Gaza peace deal; thanks mediatorsThe influencer event had already been going on for over an hour when Rubio first approached. Trump invited him over, and Rubio whispered something to him before giving him the note.Trump, then also shared the news on his Truth Social account, writing, “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”He also thanked Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey for helping make the deal possible, adding, “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”Speaking to Fox News after the announcement, Trump said, “It has really been an amazing period of time — and so great for Israel, so great for Muslims, for the Arab countries, and so great for this country… in that we could be involved in making a deal like this happen.”On the upcoming exchange, he said, “The hostages are going to be released, our time would be probably Monday… We think they’ll all be coming back on Monday, and that’ll include the bodies of the dead.”Trump mentioned that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “It’s brought the whole world together. It’s amazing — and it’s so good for Israel. I spoke to Bibi Netanyahu just a little while ago… I said, ‘Israel cannot fight the world, Bibi. They can’t fight the world.’”He added that Arab nations once hesitant to engage were now playing a major role in the peace effort. “I develop relationships with people — and sometimes those relationships lead to great things,” Trump said.The president also spoke about rebuilding Gaza. “Gaza, we believe, is going to be a much safer place, and it’s going to be a place that reconstructs, and other countries in the area will help it reconstruct because they have tremendous amounts of wealth and they want to see that happen.”In Israel, the army said it was preparing for the return of hostages. “The Chief of Staff instructed to be prepared to lead the upcoming operation to return the abductees with sensitivity and professionalism,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted in Arabic on X.
