The Christian Post's top 10 news stories of 2025 (part 2)
4. Trump secures peace deals overseas
President Donald Trump and his administration brokered or advanced several high-profile peace agreements and ceasefires this year. Such efforts focused on longstanding conflicts, but have been met with mixed reports on long-term stability.
In late September, Trump unveiled a 20-point comprehensive plan to end the violence in Gaza amid the war that ravaged the region since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The plan's first phase involved Hamas releasing all living hostages, exchanging Palestinian prisoners, increasing humanitarian aid and installing temporary governance by an apolitical Palestinian committee overseen by an international body chaired by Trump.
The plan was endorsed by a resolution of the U.N. Security Council and initially celebrated as an end to the two-year war in Gaza.
In August, the U.S. also brokered a deal signed at the White House that ended decades of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. The deal normalized relations and opened borders in the South Caucasus, while also including bilateral U.S. agreements for trade and energy.
Trump has also worked to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, though a peace deal has yet to be signed. Amid discussions about security guarantees, territorial issues and post-war recovery, Trump said earlier this month that a peace deal is "closer than ever," following talks between Ukrainian and European negotiators in Berlin, Germany.
Other brokered deals or ceasefires this year included included deescalating a tense and potentially nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan in May; attempting to settle a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand in October; signing a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda; and attempting a resolution over Nile dam disputes between Egypt and Ethiopia, which is backed by African Union members.
While the administration framed such initiatives as delivering global stability as Trump receives awards such as the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, critics have argued that some deals are fragile and leave challenges regarding how they are implemented.
Last summer, Trump drew concern among some of his Christian supporters for suggesting that his peace deals might earn him favor with God.
In August, he suggested that his work to secure peace in Ukraine could help him reach Heaven. After some Evangelicals expressed alarm that he was missing the point of the Gospel, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way to secure the Gaza peace deal in October that he was "being a little cute" with his Heaven comment, but then questioned if he would get to Heaven at all.
"I don't think there's anything going to get me in Heaven," Trump said at the time. "I think I'm maybe not Heaven-bound. I may be in Heaven right now as we fly in Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make Heaven."
Jon Brown contributed to this report
