Trump says he could visit Middle East this weekend

Trump says he could visit Middle East this weekend
U.S. President Donald Trump in U.S., 6 October
Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump says he may travel to the Middle East this weekend as talks continued on a potential deal to end the war in Gaza.

Before the agreement was reached on Wednesday, Trump said “They’re doing very well. We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and unfortunately great negotiators on the other side also,” Trump said, adding he had spoken with his team before attending an event.

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday. Actually, and we’ll see, but there’s a very good chance that negotiations are going along very well,” he added. Trump said he would leave either Saturday or Sunday but did not specify which country he might visit.

His comment comes as negotiators met in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise an agreement on his 20-point plan that will lead to the release of hostages from Gaza, in exchange of 1,700 Palestinian prisoners and an end to the fighting.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously said Trump could “potentially” travel to the Middle East if a deal is reached.

A White House official said that as of now there are no concrete plans for Trump to travel to Egypt, but noted, “anything is possible.”

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