President Trump was holding a roundtable event about antifa with conservative influencers when Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that a deal to end the war in Gaza was made, photos show.
Trump was hosting the event Wednesday night in the White House’s Blue Room when Rubio approached the president with a note informing him of the breakthrough.
“You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first,” the letter read, according to an AP snap of the note.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote a note before handing it to President Trump during a roundtable meeting on antifa in the State Dining Room at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Washington. AP“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 crowd. “So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”
The event had been underway for more than an hour when Rubio walked in with the news, with speculation soaring following pictures of the secretary of state whispering to Trump and handing him the note.
The situation in Gaza was top of everyone’s mind as Trump kicked off the unrelated event with a statement to the media that he hoped to travel to the Middle East to secure the peace deal.
As he readied himself to exit the room to make his historic announcement, Trump told the crowd: “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?”
Rubio’s note to President Trump read, “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce the deal first.” AP
Trump reads the note during the roundtable meeting at the White House on Oct. 8, 2025. AP“We don’t want to take any chances. So we’re going to go and do that,” Trump added.“We’re gonna get peace in the Middle East,” the president continued. “That’s what we want to do.”
Just two hours after he was given the notice by Rubio, Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate that both Israel and Hamas had accepted the terms of his deal.
Here’s the latest on the Gaza cease-fire deal
- Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump address cheering crowds in Tel Aviv to celebrate peace deal
- 200 US soldiers arrive in Israel, as Witkoff confirms IDF troops completed first phase of withdrawal from Gaza
- Trump set to fly to Israel to mark historic peace deal while preparing public for grim hostage release
- Putin chides Nobel winners who ‘did nothing for peace’ — tries to cozy up to Trump with Gaza deal praise
- American military to oversee initial Gaza peacekeeping force — but ‘no US troops are intended to go into Gaza’
“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!”
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