In a brief on-camera meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said October 13, 2025, was clearly one of the most important days for world peace in the past 50 years.

“Only 50?” President Donald Trump piped up. “Maybe a hundred,” Rubio offered.

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump meet Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh.Credit: AP

The light-hearted exchange spoke to an important question: what comes next? We cannot yet know if the day represented a true inflection point for conflict in the Middle East, or just another temporary break in the cycle.

Trump says it’s the end of 3000 years of fighting. We ought not let his preternatural gift for exaggeration take away from the significance of the moment: the infectious joy of the freed hostages and their families, and the people literally dancing in the streets, tell us all we need to know.

As such, a rare moment of near-unity has emerged among Trump boosters and haters. Former aide Anthony Scaramucci, a prominent critic, was one of many who gave the president kudos for the peace initiative.

“The world often mistakes our optimism for arrogance, and sometimes, they are correct,” Scaramucci said. “But underneath the boasting lies a simpler motive: the refusal to give up on man’s capacity to choose decency over despair.”

Former Democratic president Bill Clinton said Trump,

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