Overview

• Answering reporters en route to Israel, the president said, “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me into heaven,” and declared of Israel and Hamas, “The war is over.”
• The White House published audio of the gaggle and clips of the exchange circulated widely on social platforms.
• The first phase of the ceasefire calls for releases of the remaining 48 hostages — with about 20 believed alive — along with prisoner exchanges, expanded aid to Gaza, and a partial Israeli pullback.
• Trump’s itinerary includes meetings with hostage families and an address to the Knesset before traveling to Egypt to co-lead a Sharm el-Sheikh summit with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and other leaders.
• The remarks continue a theme he introduced in August linking peacemaking to his afterlife prospects, which the campaign echoed in fundraising emails and aides have described as sincere.