US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would make a “very, very big” announcement before his trip to the Gulf next week, without specifying the subject.
At the Oval Office during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mr Trump said the announcement would be “as big as it gets”.
“I won't tell you on what, but it's going to be … very positive,” Mr Trump said.
His comments come after Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday hinted at a breakthrough in the administration's efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, the treaty that normalised relations between Israel and four Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
“There are many efforts under way — humanitarian aid initiatives for Gaza, which we applaud, the expansion of the Abraham Peace Accords, which we think will have some or a lot of announcements very, very shortly," Mr Witkoff said during an event in Washington marking Israel's Independence day.
He said "great progress" was expected by next year.
Mr Trump said the announcement would be made "on Thursday, Friday or Monday" before he leaves for Saudi Arabia, followed by stops in Qatar and the UAE.
“It will be one of the most important announcements to have been made in many years about a certain subject, a very important subject,” he said.
The President later added that “it's not necessarily on trade”.
Last month, Mr Trump said he may deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the Abraham Accords in his first term, and that he would continue to work to bring other countries on board.
The Trump administration primarily wants Saudi Arabia, one of its strongest allies and economic partners in the region, to establish relations with Israel.
Mr Trump's visit to the Gulf is expected to focus on securing economic deals. But the trip comes amid several global crises, including Russia's war on Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, upheaval in Syria and US tension with Iran.
Mr Trump was speaking after he claimed Yemen's Houthis had “capitulated” and that the US would halt air strikes against the Iran-backed group.
