President Donald Trump reiterated a promise Monday to punish Hamas and its sponsors severely if it does not release the 101 Israeli hostages, including several Americans, by the time he is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.
Trump posted on Truth Social in the wake of news that one of the American hostages held by Hamas was in fact dead, and a day after Hamas released a video of another, living American-Israeli hostage in an effort to pressure Trump to lean on the Israeli government to make concessions.
Trump, on Truth Social, wasn’t having it:
Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!
Trump’s promise reiterates a vow he made during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention: “To the entire world, we want our hostages back—and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price.”
The family of American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, whose death was revealed Monday, said in a statement that they hoped the Israeli government would work with outgoing President Joe Biden and President-elect Trump to “use all of their leverage and resources to return all 101 hostages — living and the deceased — to their families as soon as possible.”
The emphasis among hostage families, as well as diplomats, has been negotiation. But Trump, while pushing for peace deals in the Middle East, has also vowed a punishing response to those who take American hostages — just as he did during his first term, when his threats resulted in Americans being released from Turkey and elsewhere.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
