A newly video of released hostage Edan Alexander’s phone call last week with Donald Trump showed the captive thanking the US president for obtaining his freedom, with Trump admitting that Alexander’s mother had been “pushing him around” to get her son freed.
Alexander was released from the Gaza Strip last Monday in what was described as a goodwill gesture from Hamas to Trump ahead of the president’s visit to the region.
The following day, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who played a key role in negotiations to secure his freedom, visited Alexander in the hospital, and initiated the call with the US president on his phone.
In the clip, Witkoff told Trump, “I have with me a very special person who just told me ‘Thank God for President Trump’ because he wouldn’t be here without you.”
Witkoff then introduced Alexander to Trump and handed the phone to the former, who appeared moved by the moment, holding the device in one hand and his head in the other.
“Mr. President,” Alexander said.
“Edan,” responded Trump, who was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the start of a visit to the region.
בלעדי לחדשות 12: הערב בחדשות סוף השבוע הבאנו את השיחה המלאה בין עידן אלכסנדר לנשיא טראמפ @danhek | @danawt pic.twitter.com/hHQfRPEnf7
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 17, 2025
“I’m very nervous talking to you, because you are a much bigger celebrity than I am,” Trump was heard saying. “Edan is the hottest celebrity in the world right now.”
“But that’s no way to become a celebrity, right?” he added, referring to the 584 days Alexander spent in Hamas captivity in Gaza. “And we’ll do it a different way next time.”
“We’re very honored, it’s crazy,” the president said.
A dual citizen who grew up in New Jersey, Alexander was serving in the IDF’s Golani Brigade at the time of his abduction during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. The terror group kidnapped him from his base near the Gaza border community of Nirim, known as the White House post.
“How was it? Are you free to talk a little bit?” Trump asked.
Alexander warned the president that “I’m on speaker and there are a lot of cameras.”
“There’s gonna be cameras surround [sic] you for a while, that’s okay,” Trump responded. “But the press has been very fair to you, I must say… and it’s been an amazing journey.”
Released hostage soldier Staff Sgt. Edan Alexander, left, meets with IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, May 12, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
“You know, for a while, we thought we lost you, actually, a lot of people thought you were not around anymore — there was a period of time,” Trump said.
“Yeah, I know,” Alexander said.
“Your parents have been unbelievable, they were not happy, these were not happy people,” Trump said. “When they heard you were okay and you were coming out, they became the happiest people in the world, I think.”
“Just because of you I’m here, you are the only reason I’m here, you saved my life, honestly, you saved my life,” Alexander said.
Trump then asked Alexander his opinion on how many living hostages are still in Gaza, putting the number 20, but the former captive responded, “I honestly have no idea,” explaining to the president that he was not kept with other hostages and “was alone.”
“Wow,” said Trump, who earlier this month caused controversy by saying there were 21 living hostages still in Gaza, lower than the figure of 24 living hostages that Israel has officially been citing.
US President Donald Trump speaks to released hostage Edan Alexander, from Riyadh, May 13, 2025 (White House)
“Just really honored, and you’re an American, and we love you, and we’re gonna take good care of you, and your parents are incredible, I saw your mother, she was pushing me around a little bit, she was putting a lot of pressure on me,” Trump said.
“Like a good mom, like a Jewish mom,” a voice off camera, apparently the of Yael Alexander, Edan’s mother, could be heard saying.
Trump then said he was looking forward to meeting the whole family and that it would be “the biggest celebration we could have.” Alexander is reportedly to meet the US president in the White House, though a date has not been set.
The president also remarked on footage from when Yael was seen embracing her son for the first time, saying, “That’s a woman who loves you.”
“I’ll see you soon,” Trump said and then asked to speak directly with Alexander’s parents.
Alexander passed the phone to parents Yael and Adi.
“Congratulations,” Trump said. “It’s lucky I produced because otherwise I would have been in trouble. They were saying Trump is the only one who can do it.”
“But listen, you delivered, amazing,” Yael said.
“Definitely delivered,” added Adi.
This undated photo released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shows Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander, who was abducted and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP)
Alexander later spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also from the hospital.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 57 — 35 of whom have been confirmed dead — remain in Gaza, along with the remains of an IDF officer who was killed in the Strip in 2014.
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