It began with a hastily written note and a whisper. It ended with a Gaza deal long sought by Donald Trump.

Something was obviously going on when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made an unexpected appearance during a roundtable at the White House on the left-wing Antifa movement on Wednesday.

"By the way, we have Marco Rubio. Marco, come on up here please," Trump said, beckoning him over to his side of the White House's State Dining Room. "Anything we should know about the Middle East?"

There was. But the scrupulously low-key Rubio was not about to do it in public.

"That's what we're hoping to talk to you about Mr President, once they leave," said Rubio, pointing to journalists and eliciting a laugh from the 79-year-old Trump.

What followed next was history playing out in real time -

See Full Page