The contents of a handwritten note passed from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to President Donald Trump during a White House roundtable have now been made public.
The exchange took place Wednesday during a meeting with prominent conservative media personalities. While Attorney General Pam Bondi was speaking, Rubio slipped Trump a note behind her back. Trump then signaled for Rubio to approach, and the secretary leaned in to whisper in the president’s ear just as Bondi wrapped up her comments.
According to Associated Press chief photographer Evan Vucci — who captured the moment — the note read: “We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce the deal first.”
Vucci previously gained recognition for his photo of Trump raising his fist after surviving the July 2024 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
After receiving Rubio’s note, Trump addressed the crowd:
“I just got a note from the secretary of state saying we’re close to a Middle East deal, and they’ll need me shortly.”
Trump continued fielding questions for a few more minutes before telling the gathered influencers:
“I have to go solve some Middle East problems,” leaving Rubio behind to take over.
According to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Trump asked both Jared Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to review the draft of the Truth Social post before publishing it. Both men were in Egypt at the time, working on a deal to release remaining hostages held by Hamas and push toward a ceasefire in Gaza.
Though Kushner holds no official position in the current administration, he remains a central figure in peace negotiations.
Roughly two hours after the White House meeting, Trump posted the announcement to his Truth Social account:
“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. 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 Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment regarding the details of the note and the timing of the post.
Shortly after the Truth Social announcement, the White House Rapid Response account on X shared a Reuters photo of Rubio whispering to Trump with a single-word caption: “Iconic.”
Trump’s direct sign-off on this social post comes not long after he accidentally shared a private message to all 10.8 million of his followers.
As The Wall Street Journal reported, Trump had intended to send a private note to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging her to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey. However, he mistakenly published the message on his public Truth Social profile.
In that post, dated September 20, Trump wrote:
“Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’”
The message ended with a plea:
“We can’t delay any longer. It’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me (5 times!) OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”
After realizing the error, Trump followed up with a public post praising Bondi, calling her work “GREAT.”
The approval of the Middle East peace post also drew comparisons to Trump’s frequent criticism of President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen.
In June, Trump authorized two internal investigations — one into Biden’s mental fitness for office, and another into whether executive actions had been unlawfully approved by staffers acting on Biden’s behalf.
He has repeatedly accused Biden of lacking awareness about the duties of his office, even displaying a photo of an autopen (instead of Biden’s portrait) in the White House’s new “Presidential Walk of Fame.”
“This is probably the biggest scandal of the last 100 years,” Trump said. “He didn’t even know what was happening. Whoever was using the autopen — that’s who was really president. And that’s wrong. That’s illegal. It’s disgraceful to our country.”
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