Details of an urgent note handed to President Donald Trump by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the middle of a meeting earlier this week have come to light.
Trump was holding the meeting for conservative influencers and the press when Rubio suddenly signalled for his attention. According to the Associated Press, the secretary of state had a pressing private update for the president, one that seemingly couldn’t wait until after the meeting was over.
Needless to say, speculation was rampant online as to what might be written on the scrap of paper. Given the plethora of political battles Trump is currently fighting, both home and abroad, the idea that he’d been slipped a handwritten note in plain view of cameras was enough to pique interest on social media.
That was until a photo captured by the AP zoomed in on the message in question, revealing its contents.
“You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,” read Rubio’s note, referring to the peace deal Trump has been actively helping to broker between Israel and Hamas.
“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 after receiving the note, per AP. “So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”
The meeting is said to have continued for another ten minutes or so before Trump called time, stating that he was going to “try and solve some problems in the Middle East.”
“Although I’m very well represented by our secretary of state,” Trump added. “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.”
The aforementioned Truth Social post went live at 6:51pm local time – around two hours after Trump had ended his meeting.
“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,” the post reads.
“All Parties will be treated fairly! 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!“
The historic announcement comes a little over two years since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023. 1,200 people lost their lives in the atrocity, while 251 individuals were taken hostage.
In retaliation, Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza that has reportedly claimed the lives of 67,100 people.
With both Israel and Hamas having agreed terms for a ceasefire, hostages are planned to be released today (Friday, October 10).
The Israeli military said yesterday that preparations are under way to “transition to adjusted deployment lines soon”.
According to BBC News, a 72-hour countdown will then begin, during which Hamas must release the 20 hostages thought to be alive. The return of the bodies of the 28 deceased hostages will then follow.
A senior US official will oversee a multinational force of around 200 troops to monitor the Gaza ceasefire, though it’s reported that no US forces will be on the ground.
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