Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, joins the president-elect at a press conference, claiming that ‘a lot of progress’ is being made in hostage deal talks in Doha, as inauguration day approaches.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
President-elect Donald Trump appeared alongside his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, reiterating his warning to the Hamas terror organization that there will be “hell to pay” if the remaining 100 hostages are not released by inauguration day on January 20th.
“If those hostages aren’t back … by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East — and it will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump said. “All hell will break out. I don’t have to say any more, but that’s what it is.”
“They should have given them back a long time ago, [and] they should have never taken them. There should have never been the attack on October 7th. People forget that. But there was, and many people are killed – they’re no longer hostages,” he added.
“If the deal isn’t done before I take office, which is now gonna be two weeks, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”
Trump’s comments echoed similar remarks made a day earlier, when Trump told conservative pundit and radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that “there will be hell to pay” if Hamas does not release all hostages by January 20th.
“Those hostages have to get out. They have to get out now.”
At Tuesday’s press conference, Witkoff appeared to be optimistic regarding the prospects for achieving a hostage deal by inauguration day.
“Well, I think we’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” Witkoff said.
“I think that we’ve had some really great progress, and I’m really hopeful that by the inaugural, we’ll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president.”