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U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he may travel to the Middle East as early as this weekend, citing significant progress in negotiations aimed at brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
"I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually," Trump told reporters at the White House. "And we'll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well."
The president indicated he had just spoken with officials in the region, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner recently joined discussions in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt's Red Sea resort city. Representatives from the United States, Türkiye, Qatar, Egypt and Israel are working to finalize an agreement under Trump's 20-point ceasefire proposal.
"Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well," Trump said. "So we'll let you know, if that's the case, we'll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday."
Trump described the diplomatic effort as unprecedented in scope, noting the involvement of multiple Arab and Muslim nations in the process.
"We're dealing with Hamas and many of the countries… All of the Muslim countries are included. All of the Arab countries are included, very rich countries, and some that are not so rich, but just about everybody's included. It's never happened before," he said.
The president praised negotiators on both sides. "We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they're, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it's something I think that will happen," he said.
Trump's peace plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages held in Gaza, Hamas's disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier Wednesday that he had received "encouraging" signs from the talks and praised Trump's support. Hamas also expressed "optimism" about the indirect negotiations with Israel.
"'Peace for the Middle East,' that's a beautiful phrase, and we hope it's going to come true, but it's very close, and they're doing very well," Trump said.
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