President Donald Trump on Thursday met with the parents of Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage held by Hamas, during a National Day of Prayer ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, offering compassion and reaffirming his administration’s commitment to bringing the young man home.
“We don’t know how he’s doing really, do we? We don’t know,” Trump told Adi and Yael Alexander, who were in attendance. “We think we know — and hopefully [it’s] positive. Two months ago we were pretty sure, and it looked like he was getting out. But they’ve toughened up a little bit. And it’s a terrible thing. I know what you’re going through.”
Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen from New Jersey, moved to Israel in 2022 and was abducted during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Trump referenced the assault in his remarks.
“A New Jersey boy, Edan, moved to Israel in 2022 and was taken hostage in the vicious October 7th attack on Jewish people,” Trump said. “And now I will tell you — that’s an attack that would have never happened because the money was given by Iran to Hamas.”
The president criticized his predecessor’s foreign policy, arguing it enabled Iranian funding of militant groups.
“Iran had no money when I was president. They were out of money. They were bust,” Trump said. “They weren’t giving it to Hamas. They weren’t giving it to Hezbollah. They weren’t giving it to anybody — because they didn’t have any money.”
Trump added that the U.S. had reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil the previous night, warning foreign buyers they risk losing access to the American market.
“In fact, I put sanctions on last night. Any oil that anybody takes from Iran is not allowed to do business in the United States of America,” he said.
Trump suggested that shifts in U.S. policy had broader consequences, pointing to conflicts beyond the Middle East.
“Think of it — your son would be home. You wouldn’t have had October 7th. You wouldn’t have had the Ukraine-Russian horror show,” he said. “That would have never happened. Was never going to happen.”
Turning directly to the Alexanders, Trump offered empathy: “Adi and Yael, I cannot imagine your pain. I just can’t. But we’re all alongside you. We stand by you and we’re going to do everything possible in the very short period of time.”
“We’ve gotten a lot of hostages out,” Trump said. “But they want to do it as slowly as possible because they use them as pawns. It’s a horrible thing, but we’re working very hard to save your son.”
Describing a recent Oval Office meeting with former hostages, Trump recounted the harsh conditions they had endured while in captivity.
“They lived in a pipe. They didn’t really live in a tunnel — they lived in a pipe that was this big. They could barely breathe,” Trump said. “One was in for 305 days, one was in for over 500 days. But I got them out.”
He emphasized the absence of compassion shown by the captors.
“I said, ‘Did you ever see any love or kindness? Did they ever give you hope?’ He says, ‘No, not one.’ Not one person out of hundreds ever said, ‘I’ll sneak you a little bread,’ or ‘I’ll make sure you get home safely.’ Not one. And that amazed me.”
Trump also recounted an exchange with one of the released hostages who wore a shirt marked “59,” a reference to the number of hostages believed to remain in captivity at the time.
“I said, ‘Are they all living?’ [He said,] ‘No, 24 are living.’ I said, ‘24?’ He said, ‘Yeah, only 24.’... And the others? ‘The others are all dead.’”
Despite the grim details, Trump pledged to continue the effort.
“As much as you want your beautiful boy out, they want their beautiful boy,” he said. “For the most part, as you know — young boys. But they want them out so badly. Almost as much as if they were alive.”
He concluded the event with a religious message tied to the occasion.
“As we bow our heads this beautiful day in the Rose Garden on the National Day of Prayer,” Trump said, “we once again trust our lives to our liberties and our happiness to the hands of the creator who gave them to us and who loves us.”