From the Liveblog of
Friday, July 25, 2025
‘It’s sort of disappointing’: Trump appears to accept being unable to free final hostages
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Asked by reporters at the White House if he had spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about airdrops of aid into Gaza, US President Donald Trump says he has spoken to the Israeli premier but doesn’t specify when their last call was.
“I speak to him, but I can’t tell you what I speak to him about,” Trump says before lamenting the state of the hostage talks.
“I told you when you get down to those last 20 hostages… It’s going to be very hard for Hamas to make a deal because they lose their shield, they lose their cover. We got a lot of them out,” he says, almost appearing to accept that no other hostages will be released.
“It’s sort of disappointing,” he says.
Israel said earlier today it would soon allow the resumption of airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which were expected to be from Jordan and the UAE.
Trump also claims that the US donated $60 billion for Gaza humanitarian aid.
He appears to be referring to the $30 million that the US has allocated to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“We hope the money gets there because that money gets taken, the food gets taken,” Trump says, adding that the US will still give more money. He claims that the majority of aid for Gaza comes from the US and that “no other country other than us gives anything.”
As of early this year, the UAE was behind nearly half of the aid going into Gaza, while the US support was closer to one-third, according to UN figures.
The Times of Israel Community.