logo
Trump says 10 hostages will be returning from Gaza 'very shortly' during White House dinner with allies

Trump says 10 hostages will be returning from Gaza 'very shortly' during White House dinner with allies

Fox News7 days ago
During a celebratory dinner at the White House with a number of Donald Trump's GOP allies, including several Republican lawmakers from Congress, the president signaled that 10 more hostages in Gaza would be "coming very shortly."
The dinner was largely focused on touting the achievements Republicans have had over the last six months, but while praising his administration's work on foreign policy, Trump commented about the hostages.
"Gaza – we got most of the hostages back," Trump said when his comments turned to the Middle East. "We're going to have another ten coming very shortly. And we hope to have that finished pretty quickly," the president added.
So far, the U.S. has brought home five total American hostages captured by Hamas, three of whom were alive, two of whom were dead. Two Americans reportedly still remain in captivity, in addition to dozens of other non-Americans.
The rest of Trump's address Friday night mostly included praise for Congressional Republicans over their work passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with the president stating he doesn't "think anybody's ever come close to" passing such sweeping legislation with such a small majority.
In particular, Trump thanked by name Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, Republican Policy Committee Chair Shelly Moore-Capito, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham.
"Nobody's done so much, so fast. And probably you could say, with so few votes," Trump praised. "You stayed in session for a marathon ten consecutive weeks, and that's the longest of any Senate in 15 years. And you held over 400 votes, more than any Senate in 35 years. And they were successful votes. And just a few weeks ago, we had the biggest victory of them all. When you passed the one big beautiful bill."
The president also lauded Republicans for all the work they have done on immigration, border security, foreign diplomacy, speedy cabinet nominations, deregulation and spending cut efforts, calling out Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff specifically for their work on U.S. foreign diplomacy.
Top of mind Friday night was the GOP recission package as well, which Trump praised the passage of. Trump did not indicate when he would sign the GOP bill, but did note that "we have numerous other recissions coming up, adding more, many more $10 billion dollars to it."
Meanwhile, Trump also predicted that, in 2026, the GOP majority "is going to be stronger in both the House and the Senate." Typically, conventional wisdom predicts that the party that won the presidency will not typically perform as well two years later during the midterm elections.
"I don't understand why they say that when you win the presidency, you always almost automatically lose the midterms, because nobody's had a more successful period of time than we have," Trump told the crowd of attendees at the White House Friday evening. "Based on that, we should do great."
Trump added Friday that "We achieved more in six months than almost any administration could accomplish in eight years."
"And we're going to have a lot of good six months left. We're going to have a six and another six and another six. So we'll keep going," he continued. "Over the next year and a half, we'll have an incredible record to share with the American people," he continued. "As long as we continue to keep our promises to the voters, Americans will continue to stand by our side."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Jordan, other countries could airdrop aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis worsens
Jordan, other countries could airdrop aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis worsens

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Jordan, other countries could airdrop aid into Gaza as humanitarian crisis worsens

The Kingdom of Jordan will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza as Palestinians face widespread starvation and diplomatic talks over a ceasefire break down, a source familiar with the operation told ABC News. Jordan's Royal Air Force will restart the drop by beginning to draw from a stockpile of 500 tons of food in Amman, the source said. Military aircraft will drop the food into designated drop zones, which are being coordinated with Israeli authorities, according to an Israeli security official. The airdrops, an operation viewed by the humanitarian officials as a last resort, come as dire conditions in Gaza teeter toward a famine, which the United Nations warns is on the horizon. MORE: 'They're losing hope': What doctors, aid workers are seeing in Gaza amid hunger crisis Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who appeared in Washington this week alongside the Jordanian Foreign Minister, ignored questions from ABC News about how the U.S. could improve the deteriorating humanitarian situation for Gaza and particularly for the enclave's children, who are starving at alarming rates. President Donald Trump expressed frustration Friday morning after the U.S. and Israel recalled negotiating teams in the region Thursday, blaming gridlocked talks on Hamas and suggesting Israel would ramp up its war efforts. "They pulled out in terms of negotiating," Trump said. "It was too bad [that] Hamas didn't really want to make a deal." Hamas said Thursday it was "surprised" the US pulled back its negotiators, saying "mediators have expressed appreciation" for the terror group's "constructive and positive stance" in the talks. Trump said diplomacy is at a point where Israel is "going to have to finish the job," suggesting military action as an answer. "You're going to have to get rid of" Hamas, he said. Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said "alternative options" would be weighed to bring Israeli hostages held by Hamas home. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed Witkoff's sentiment, but neither elaborated on what the options were. The president said aid is blocked by Hamas and that the U.S. "is going to do more" for the humanitarian situation in Gaza. MORE: More than 30 killed at controversial foundation's aid distribution sites in Gaza: Health officials Jordan's emergency humanitarian response would be joined by the United Arab Emirates, the Israel official said. Flights over Gaza coordinated by the Israel Defense Forces and COGAT, the Israeli organization in charge of facilitating aid into the Gaza Strip, could begin in the coming days, the Israeli source said. The renewed airdrops are expected to surpass the scale of airdrops conducted by Jordan in 2024, which delivered over 1,000 tons of aid to Palestinians, the source familiar with the operation told ABC News. Cases of severe malnutrition in children under 5 in Gaza have tripled in just two weeks, according to Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). At MSF clinics, 1 in 4 children who were screened -- as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women -- are malnourished, the emergency doctors say. One in three people in the enclave, 70% of whose territory is controlled by Israel, have not eaten for multiple days in a row, the World Food Programme said this week. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the largest UN agency operating in Gaza, warned in a post on X that airdrops are the "most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid," calling them a "distraction to the inaction." Jordan conducted airdrops with US Central Command in the spring of 2024 in an effort to step up aid as the war in Gaza stretched into its sixth month. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the Jordanian King in an April 2024 phone call, noting that the US-Jordanian airdrops delivered over 1,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. MORE: More than 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' in Gaza amid Israel's war with Hamas The war is now just short of two years, and aid is limited to a trickle of aid convoys and distribution coordinated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed private company that has faced widespread criticism as its aid distribution points have been marked with violence and chaos since they began operating at the end of May. Over 1,000 people have been killed at aid distribution sites since May, the UN has said. Israel said it had initiated a review into an incident Sunday in which dozens of Palestinians were killed at an aid site after acknowledging troops fired near crowds. It said the probe was ongoing but a "preliminary review indicates that the reported number of casualties does not align with existing information." Just over a third of aid trucks that entered Gaza between May 31 and June 2 were received by humanitarian organizations for distribution, the UN reported in June. The meager quantities of aid and GHF-run distribution sites are the only aid permitted by Israeli authorities. Trucks flowed into Gaza across the Kerem Shalom border crossing over the past week, according to an Israeli security official, who said as many as 150 reached international organizations in Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday. The UN said that as many as 500 trucks entered the Strip on a daily basis before the outset of the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The State Department said Thursday that Hamas was to blame for chaos and death at distribution sites and insufficient assistance reaching people in need. Hamas has said in the past that Israel is not allowing sufficient aid into the Strip. After the U.S. pulled a negotiating team meeting with Qataris intermediaries in Doha, Tommy Pigott, the State Department's Deputy Spokesperson, said ceasefire talks were not advancing because of Hamas, the terror organization whose October 7, 2023, attack on Israel initiated the war. "This humanitarian conflict lies at the feet of Hamas, who could end this conflict today by releasing the hostages and laying down their arms," Pigott said. The Jordanian Royal Air Force's C-130s, which conducted the drops in 2024 and can carry 14 tons of food each, will be tasked with the operation again, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News. The drops could include high-energy biscuits, each providing enough daily nutrients for a child. Two biscuits would sustain an adult for the day. Aid organizations say children in Gaza are starving to death in increasing numbers. A statement from UNICEF, the UN's agency for children, points to more than four who reportedly died in the last 48 hours -- and note that some 80% of the deaths in Gaza from malnutrition have been children. "These deaths are unconscionable - and could have been prevented," said Edouard Beigbeder, the agency's director for the Middle East. "The UN-led humanitarian response must be allowed to function fully through unfettered aid access to children in need," he said.

US appeals court strikes down SEC rule on 'audit trail' funding
US appeals court strikes down SEC rule on 'audit trail' funding

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

US appeals court strikes down SEC rule on 'audit trail' funding

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Friday struck down 2023 regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on funding a comprehensive market surveillance system, finding that Wall Street's top regulator had not provided a sufficient basis for allowing stock exchanges to pass on its costs to their members, court papers showed. The unanimous decision represented another blow to SEC regulations adopted under the previous Biden administration, which faced concerted opposition from industry and Republican lawmakers. It was also a setback for the Consolidated Audit Trail, a repository of investor and transaction data meant to give regulators overarching visibility into U.S. market operations, but which has faced delays and obstacles for more than a decade. The American Securities Association and Citadel Securities, which brought the lawsuit, both hailed the outcome. The ruling "prevents a tax hike on every American investor who buys or sells a share of stock," ASA President Chris Iacovella said in a statement. The SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Over the objections of its Republican members, the SEC in 2023 split the operating costs among buyers, sellers, and exchanges. Officials said at the time this would divide costs evenly but also allow exchanges several years to recoup hundreds of millions already spent. This drew stiff objections from the investment industry, which said it could be left paying an unfairly large share. The two Republicans are now part of the five-member commission's controlling majority. In an opinion for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for 11th Circuit, Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher said that, because the SEC had not advanced a sufficient justification in deciding how the system's cost would fall on different actors in the marketplace, "we conclude that the 2023 Funding Order is arbitrary and capricious" and therefore in violation of federal laws governing the crafting of regulations. The appeals court sent the rule back to the SEC for further processing in line with the court's decision. The SEC mandated the CAT's creation in 2012 as a response to the "flash crash" of 2010 when major Wall Street indexes temporarily erased nearly $1 trillion in market value in a matter of minutes. Officials say it can allow regulators to spot market manipulation and have cited its data in enforcement actions.

Sir Keir Starmer is caught between Trump, Macron and MPs over Palestine recognition
Sir Keir Starmer is caught between Trump, Macron and MPs over Palestine recognition

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Sir Keir Starmer is caught between Trump, Macron and MPs over Palestine recognition

Parliament may have shut up shop for a six-week summer break, but MPs and the French president are turning up the heat on Sir Keir Starmer over the Middle East. More than one in three of all 650 MPs have written to the prime minister calling on the UK to recognise a Palestinian state at a United Nations conference next week. In response to the call, his answer is essentially: Yes, but not yet. That, of course, won't satisfy the 222 MPs backing an all-party letter to the PM penned by the Labour MP Sarah Champion. The majority of names on the letter, predictably, are Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MPs. But there are some Tory big hitters too, including Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh and former cabinet minister Kit Malthouse. Until now, the PM and foreign secretary David Lammy have argued that the gesture of recognising Palestine on its own won't end what Sir Keir himself calls "the appalling scenes in Gaza". But the pressure for recognition isn't just coming from MPs. French President Emmanuel Macron has said France will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. Read more: Might Mr Macron - whose bromance with the PM during his state visit to the UK could not have been warmer - persuade Sir Keir to do the same? Possibly. He's not ruling it out. But there's one big obstacle to Sir Keir bowing to the pressure from MPs and the French president. And that's the towering figure who's in Scotland this weekend: the golfing president of the United States. When Donald Trump was asked about President Macron's vow to recognise Palestine in September, his response was brutal and bordering on condescending. "What he says doesn't matter," the president told reporters at the White House as he headed for Air Force One. "He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight." Ouch! But the US president's unflinching support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu places Sir Keir in an awkward spot: Caught between the opposing stances of the French and US presidents. The PM is, therefore, also under pressure from President Trump, and he won't want to fall out with him when he meets him this weekend. Hence, his carefully worded statement responding to the letter from the MPs. Appearing to try and please the US and French presidents - and the large number of Labour MPs backing Sarah Champion's letter - Sir Keir said he's "working on a pathway to peace" in the Middle East. He spoke of "concrete steps" to turn a ceasefire into a lasting peace and said recognition of a Palestinian state "has to be one of those steps", adding: "I am unequivocal about that." And he concluded: "But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis. "This is the way to ensure it is a tool of maximum utility to improve the lives of those who are suffering - which of course, will always be our ultimate goal." Read more from Sky News: As well as his own statement, the PM issued a joint statement with President Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, both of whom have held talks with Sir Keir in the UK in the past fortnight. That statement was tough, beginning: "The time has come to end the war in Gaza." It went on: "The humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now." Yet there's little sign of either the war or the humanitarian catastrophe ending any time soon. And that means that throughout parliament's summer break, MPs will no doubt continue to turn up the heat on the PM.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store