Trump Asked If He Expects To See 'Progress' On Gaza Ceasefire During Trip To Middle East

Forbes Breaking News

During a press briefing on Monday, President Trump was asked if he expects to see any progress made towards a ceasefire in Gaza during his trip to the Middle East.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, on the hostage, you said that the release of the American hostage,

00:06Edwin Alexander, is a step in good faith to end this war.

00:10Do you expect any progress, perhaps announcement, on ceasefire during your trip to the Middle East?

00:16We hope that we're going to have other hostages released, too, as you know.

00:20So when I met with the hostages three weeks ago that were there for quite a while,

00:24you remember the 10 people that came in, mostly young people, one or two were a little bit older,

00:30they were explaining the trials and tribulations.

00:33I mean, they went through hell.

00:35And I said, how many are there?

00:36They said 59.

00:38I said, that's a lot.

00:39I didn't realize, because we got a lot out.

00:41You know, we got a lot of hostages out, I think you will acknowledge.

00:44They said 59, but then they said, they followed that up by saying 59, of which 24 are living, the rest are dead.

00:51But the people whose son, mostly son, I think one daughter in this case, but mostly sons are there, or husbands are there.

01:02Those people want the dead bodies as much as they want the live body.

01:06I have a mother that calls me, but came up to me when I first met her, and she said, sir, please, please get my son out.

01:15He's dead, but they have his body.

01:18And I asked her about that, and it's as though he were alive.

01:22The level of wanting that body back is the same.

01:27It couldn't be anymore, as though he were alive.

01:30So, you know, getting the bodies back is very important.

01:33It could be a thing having to do with the religion.

01:36It could be the same.

01:37I was amazed at the level of importance.

01:41It's the same as if the son or husband or whatever was alive.

01:45So they said 59.

01:47In fact, they came in with a number, 59, written out like a sign on their chest.

01:52They came to thank me for getting them out.

01:55And I said, what does a 59 mean?

01:59They said, well, that means there are 59 people.

02:01But then they said, but 24 are living.

02:04Now it's 21.

02:05The number is 21.

02:06So now it's actually, we'll get Etan today.

02:10We think we're getting him today.

02:12So they have 20 live hostages there.

02:14The rest are dead bodies.

02:17The rest are dead bodies.

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