Washington — President Trump said he “may go” to the Middle East, specifically Egypt, this weekend as his top negotiators seek to broker a peace agreement between Hamas and Israel. The president also said he “may” go to Gaza.
Mr. Trump said Wednesday that if negotiations go well, he and his team will “be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe Saturday.” Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are in Egypt for indirect peace talks and participated in meetings Wednesday, a White House official said.
The current negotiations center around a 20-point peace proposal that Mr. Trump unveiled at the White House during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month.
“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually, and we’ll see,” the president said during a White House roundtable on antifa. “But there’s a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well. We’re dealing with Hamas and many of the countries.”
“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas,” he added. “And it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know. If that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe Saturday, maybe a little later than Saturday evening, but that seems to be our schedule.”
The president said he would “be going to Egypt, most likely.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president will visit Walter Reed Medical Center for a meeting and remarks with the troops, as well as his annual checkup. After that, “President Trump is considering going to the Middle East shortly thereafter,” she said.
Egypt and Qatar are serving as intermediaries between Israel and Hamas in the indirect talks, which are taking place in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The president also said he “may” go to Gaza as a part of a Middle East trip.
“I would, yeah,” the president said when asked if he would consider going to Gaza. “I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly. I’ll be going to Egypt, most likely.”
The president has urged negotiators to “move fast.” On Friday, Hamas said it had accepted some elements from the U.S.-led peace proposal. The first phase of the plan would entail Hamas releasing the remaining hostages, living and deceased, within 72 hours. Tuesday marked two years since Hamas launched its terrorist attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and about 251 civilians, including children, were kidnapped..
Without drastic changes, a presidential trip abroad to deal with foreign policy this weekend would come amid the federal government shutdown. The House is out of session, and the Senate has been unable to pass legislation to reopen the government.