Trump on NJ hostage taken by Hamas: We don’t know where Edan Alexander is

✅ President Trump talked about hostage Edan Alexander at a White House ceremony

✅ Hamas claims they have not heard from the group actually holding the NJ native

✅ The president was staying positive that he is still alive

President Donald Trump said there are fewer than 24 living hostages being held by Hamas, but he did not know if New Jersey native Edan Alexander was among them.

After a prayer was offered for Alexander during a National Day of Prayer ceremony Thursday morning at the White House, Trump pointed out his parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, in attendance.

“We don't know how he's doing really, do we? We don't know. We think we know and hopefully positive. Two months ago, we were pretty sure it looked like he was getting out but they toughened up a little. It's a terrible thing. I know what you're going through,” Trump said. "We're working very hard to save your son. We have news coming out both good and bad but working very hard."

While addressing the hostage situation, Trump mentioned that he just reinstated an order from his first administration that banned any country buying oil from Iran from doing business with the United States. The order sent Iran into a "bad state" economically but was lifted after his first term ended, according to Trump.

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Trump goes political during ceremony

The second-term president turned things political and repeated his debunked belief that the 2020 election was "totally rigged."  Trump contends that if he had won, the global events that followed would not have happened.

"Think of it. Your son would be home. You wouldn't have had Oct. 7. You wouldn't have had the Ukraine-Russian horror show that's going on that we're trying to stop," Trump said.

A spokesman for the terrorist organization Hamas said that the Israeli army made a direct hit on the place where the now 21-year-old from Tenafly was being held. The Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area was struck on April 16, killing a medic and wounding nine, but it’s not clear if that is where Alexander is being held.

Alexander, a 2023 Tenafly High School graduate, joined the Israeli Defense Forces. He was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, and has not been seen since except in two videos.

In the most recent video, Alexander states on his 551st day of captivity, he is “collapsing physically and mentally” and blames Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for rejecting an agreement with Hamas that would have released him.

He also addressed President Trump and asked why he believes what he calls Netanyahu’s “lies.”

Videos of hostages can be scripted or made under duress. The U.S. State Department has not disclosed if it verified the video.

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