Trump announces ‘first steps’ to ‘durable peace’; Kristi Noem compares Antifa to MS-13. Key US politics stories from 8 October at a glance

It started with a whisper. Marco Rubio interrupted Donald Trump’s roundtable event with conservative influencers discussing antifa, speaking quietly into Trump’s ear. Rubio handed the president a note, which read “Very close. We need you to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first.”

Soon afterwards Trump posted to Truth Social that the “first phase” of a peace plan to pause fighting and release some hostages and prisoners held in Gaza had been agreed by Israel and Hamas, bringing the best hope yet of a definitive end to a bloody two-year conflict.