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Trump says he'll "probably" release Middle East peace plan before Netanyahu visits

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What conflict in the Middle East means for Trump 00:59

President Trump says he'll "probably" release his long-awaited Middle East peace plan "a little bit prior" to his Tuesday White House visit with indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Trump made the announcement to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a Republican address at his Doral, Florida resort.

Mr. Trump, who has long insisted the peace plan is coming but has not committed to a date, said he believes the plan will work, and his administration has spoken to the Palestinians "briefly" about it. He's anticipating their initial response to the plan won't be positive.

"We've spoken to them briefly," Mr. Trump said of the Palestinians. "But we will speak to them in a period of time. And they have a lot of incentive to do it. I'm sure they maybe will react negatively at first, but it's actually very positive for them." 

The president, who prides himself on his dealmaking skills, said he'd "love to be able to do that deal." 

"They say that's the hardest of all deals," Mr. Trump said. "I love doing deals."

On Twitter hours earlier, Mr. Trump had just dismissed the idea that the administration was close to announcing a plan. 

"Reports about details and timing of our closely-held peace plan are purely speculative," Mr. Trump tweeted. 

The president has left much of the Middle East relationship-building and dealmaking to his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. 

"If Jared Kushner can't do it, it can't be done," Mr. Trump said of Middle East peace during a speech to the American Council National Summit in December. 

The White House announced Thursday afternoon that Netanyahu will visit the White House on Tuesday, a meeting that will all but certainly come during the hours of the ongoing Senate impeachment trial

Netanyahu has his own problems at home. The Israeli parliament will be debating whether to grant him immunity in the corruption cases against him. He was indicted in November and is facing his third election in March, after failing to assemble a governing majority after two consecutive elections last year. 

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