'If I weren't here, that they wouldn't be back ever'

Trump considering Mideast visit but ‘not yet,’ says only his deadline got hostage deal done

‘We have a thing called “the hostages are coming back” going on right now,’ US president tells reporters, as envoy Witkoff confirms he’ll go to Gaza to oversee deal implementation

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jim Watson/AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jim Watson/AFP)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he’s considering visiting the Middle East, though not immediately, as he again lauded his new administration’s role in securing a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group that came into effect on Sunday.

“We’re thinking about going to the Middle East — not yet,” he told reporters on his second day in office.

His Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed Monday that he plans to travel to the Gaza Strip to oversee the implementation of the three-phase accord.

Arab diplomats speaking to The Times of Israel have credited Trump and Witkoff, who held talks in Qatar and Israel in the final week of the Gaza negotiations, with helping bring the deal across the finish line, particularly by pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have a thing called ‘the hostages are coming back’ going on right now,” Trump added.

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Sunday as the deal came into effect, bringing a halt to the war that began October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages.

Hamas terrorists hand over hostages Doron Steinbrecher (center, in pink sweater), Emily Damari and Romi Gonen, abducted during the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners deal, in Gaza City, January 19, 2025 (Reuters)

The first stage of the framework, first presented by then-US president Joe Biden in a May 31, 2024, speech, provides for a temporary ceasefire, the release of 33 Israeli hostages, and the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners and detainees.

Trump lamented that some of the hostages are not in good condition, specifically referencing former captive Emily Damari, released on Sunday, who had two of her fingers amputated after being shot during Hamas October 7 onslaught.

“If I weren’t here, that they wouldn’t be back ever,” Trump said of the hostages.

Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP)

Ninety-one of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

“Biden couldn’t get it done, and it was only the imposition that I put on as a deadline that they got it done,” Trump said.

Last month, Trump threatened “all hell to pay” in the Mideast if the hostages weren’t released by his January 20 inauguration.

US President Donald Trump greets relatives of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Trump’s comments came after he signed an executive order on Monday rolling back the sanctions regime Biden implemented last year targeting violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

The policy was one of dozens rolled back by Trump hours after being sworn back into office through a stack of executive orders he signed first at a post-inauguration rally in front of thousands of supporters, and then back at the White House.

Trump is also looking to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia — a deal that will likely require Jerusalem to make significant concessions to the Palestinians. Riyadh has publicly conditioned the agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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