A note that Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote to President Donald Trump is offering a glimpse into how social media messaging is handled inside the White House.
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Trump, 79, was holding a meeting with conservative influencers and members of the press when Rubio caught his attention. According to the Associated Press, Rubio had a private update for the president.
He handed Trump a note about the need to “approve” a social media post — indicating the post had not been authored by Trump himself.
A photo captured by the AP zoomed in on the note, revealing the message: “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”
The note referred to a peace agreement that Trump has been helping to broker between Israel and Hamas. CNN reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of Hamas — which governs Gaza and is designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group — had reached a tentative agreement on an initial step toward ending a years-long conflict.
During the meeting, Trump signaled to the room that he had major news.
“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, per the AP. “So we’ll take a couple of more questions.”
The meeting continued for roughly 10 more minutes before Trump announced he was heading off to “try and solve some problems in the Middle East.”
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He added, “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’s team posted the announcement on Truth Social at 6:51 p.m. local time, around two hours after the meeting concluded.
The post read: “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.”
It continued: “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 deal still requires approval from Israel’s security cabinet. Its central focus is the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, CNN reported. In exchange, Israel would release Palestinian prisoners.
Trump has taken a hard line against Hamas throughout the negotiations.
“Hamas has been a ruthless and violent threat, for many years, in the Middle East! They have killed (and made lives unbearably miserable), culminating with the October 7th MASSACRE, in Israel, babies, woman, children, old people, and many young men and women, boys and girls, getting ready to celebrate their future lives together,” he wrote on Truth Social.
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He warned that the group was facing its “one last chance.”
“Great, powerful, and very rich Nations of the Middle East, and the surrounding areas beyond, together with the United States of America, have agreed, with Israel signing on, to PEACE, after 3000 years, in the Middle East. THIS DEAL ALSO SPARES THE LIVES OF ALL REMAINING HAMAS FIGHTERS!” he wrote, giving the group a deadline to accept the agreement.
He concluded, “If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”