The defender is open to a new challenge away from Newcastle after a week in which he lost the team captaincy and learned he would not be starting the season opener versus Southampton.
Trippier has two years to run on his contract at St James’ Park and reports say he would be open to a move away within the next week with a number of clubs interested including Premier League rivals Everton.
Howe spoke about the situation today and admits he is surprised the full back wants to leave.
"The situation is business as usual, Tripps has trained really well this week. I'm surprised by a lot of the stories that have come out.
"He's trained really well since he came back from the Euros - I think he's only had two weeks of training, hence the reason why he didn't start last week.
"I'm not really sure where this has come from. He's preparing as we all are for the game on Saturday."