President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May, to the White House on Thursday.
Alexander told Trump he was treated better in captivity after Trump won the presidential election, per a video posted on social media by Trump aide Margo Martin.
The president thanked him and welcomed him to the Oval Office. He noted Melania Trump, in particular, was worried about Alexander.
‘The first lady, it was very important to her,’ Trump said.
The president also said he was concerned that Alexander had been killed in an air strike on a Hamas tunnel where he was being held, Axios reported.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump met with freed hostage Eden Alexander (center) and his family (right)
Alexander, 21, is an American-Israeli from New Jersey.
He was among 251 people taken hostage by Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked Israel’s war with Hamas.
Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after finishing high school and enlisted in the military. He was 19 when militants stormed his base in Israel and dragged him into the Gaza Strip.
He was released on May 12 by the militant group Hamas after 584 days in captivity. Alexander had been in Israel since he was freed until he traveled last month home to New Jersey, where his family still lives.
Alexander told President Trump there are other hostages still in Gaza who need to be released and the president agreed with him.
The meeting comes ahead of Trump’s scheduled sit-down on Monday with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump is pushing Netanyahu and Hamas to come to an agreement to end the war in Gaza.
The president asked Iran-backed Hamas militants on Tuesday to agree to what he called a ‘final proposal’ for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza that will be delivered by mediating officials from Qatar and Egypt.
In a social media post, Trump said his representatives had a ‘long and productive’ meeting with Israeli officials about Gaza.
Trump said Israel has agreed to the conditions to finalize a 60-day ceasefire, ‘during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.’ He said representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver ‘this final proposal’ to Hamas.
‘I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,’ he wrote.
President Donald Trump praised Eden Alexander’s release
Along with the first lady, several other senior officials were in the meeting with Alexander, Axios reported, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Alexander’s homecoming to Tenafly, New Jersey, was met with celebration, as hundreds stood in the rain to see him.
Trump in early March met at the White House with a group of eight former hostages who had been released by Hamas: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.
