The President was attending a roundtable of far-right online personalities when Secretary of State Marco Rubio passed him a handwritten note
Donald Trump could be poised to announce “a deal” on Gaza after his top diplomat was spotted passing a note telling him an agreement was “very close”.
The President was attending a roundtable of far-right online personalities to declare protesters who oppose his administration “terrorists” when Secretary of State Marco Rubio hurriedly scratched out a handwritten note on White House notepaper.
In the note, Rubio told Trump he had to approve a post on his Truth Social platform, which would allow him to be the first to announce the deal.
It’s widely thought the note refers to Hamas agreeing to a peace deal in Gaza, but the conflict is not mentioned in the note.
The note reads: “VERY CLOSE. We need you to approve a Truth Social post so you can announce deal first.”
The note prompted Trump to proclaim, “We’re very close to a deal in the Middle East.”
he United States’ top Middle East adviser, the prime minister of Qatar and other senior officials joined the third day of peace talks between Israel and Hamas at an Egyptian resort on Wednesday, a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza.
Hamas says it’s seeking firm guarantees from mediators that Israel won’t resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the militant group releases all the remaining hostages.
All sides have expressed optimism for a deal to end the two-year war that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and most of the Gaza Strip destroyed. But key parts of the peace plan still haven’t been agreed to, including a requirement that Hamas disarm, the timing and extent of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and the creation of an international body to run the territory after Hamas steps down.
In a sign the talks were going well, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s considering a trip to the Middle East within a matter of days.
“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week,” Trump said from the White House as he opened a roundtable event on a different matter. The trip could occur Sunday, Trump said, adding that “negotiations are going along very well.”
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, arrived Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh for the discussions, as did Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s top adviser, Ron Dermer.
Representatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were also in attendance, and a delegation from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another fringe militant group that holds an unknown number of Israeli hostages, were scheduled to arrive, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media. Their participation underscores the aim of the talks to encompass all Palestinian groups.
A Palestinian official said negotiators made headway Wednesday on the names of prisoners who will be released and on guarantees that Israel won’t resume fighting if the hostages are released.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak publicly about the negotiations, said Hamas promised to release all living hostages but would postpone returning the remains of dead hostages until conditions on the ground in Gaza permits.
The official wouldn’t say which Palestinians Hamas wants Israel to release from jail, adding that mediators informed both sides that a deal must be reached by this Friday. The official said President Trump would declare an end to the war once a final deal is reached.
Two officials from Arab countries said progress was made in Wednesday’s talks and that a deal could be reached in the coming days. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.