Donald Trump has positioned himself as a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize following a historic ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. At a White House cabinet meeting, the US president spoke of 'everlasting peace' in the Middle East, while his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, delivered a pointed hint to the Nobel committee meeting in Oslo.
Rubio declared that none of the progress would have been possible without Trump, saying: 'I don't know of any American president in the modern era that could have made this possible because of the actions you have taken unrelated to this, and because of who you are, and what you've done.' The comments drew a round of applause from the cabinet.
Trump himself was coy on the subject, avoiding mention of the Nobel prize during the 70-minute meeting. However, he spoke optimistically about the ceasefire, which is expected to see the release of 20 living Israeli hostages. 'They're dancing in the streets of Arab countries, Muslim countries,' he said.
The president credited his entire team, including Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and envoy Steve Witkoff. But the meeting also struck a discordant note, as Trump discussed deploying troops to US cities to confront what he called an 'enemy from within'. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused local officials in Portland of being 'lying and disingenuous'.
