President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Tuesday that he thinks the hostage talks are significantly progressing at a Trump press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
"Well, I think we're making a lot of progress, and I don't want to say too much because I think they're doing a really good job back in Doha," Witkoff said at a Trump press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
He added that he hopes to have good things to report about the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza by the time Trump is sworn in as president on January 20.
"I think that we've had some really great progress, and I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural, we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president," he said.
Witkoff said that he if did not travel back to Doha on Tuesday night, he would head there on Wednesday night.
"Biden's envoy Brett McGurk and Witkoff talk regularly and the discussions are constructive," a US official told The Jerusalem Post. "These conversations are appropriate given the stakes and are what the American people should expect to be happening. We share the common aim to get the hostages out."
Doha has been hosting negotiations on a hostage deal. Doha is the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar, which, along with Egypt and the US, has been mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
"If the hostages are not back by the time I'm in office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone," Trump previously said of the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the terror group's October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel.
Trump, when asked about this warning on the Hugh Hewitt Podcast on Monday, responded, "That is exactly what I meant. If the hostages are not released by the time I take office, there will be hell—no ‘don’t,’ there will be hell. They need to be released now."
"I am Israel’s best friend. I moved the embassy to Jerusalem—everything was good, including the Abraham Accords, and every major positive event in Israel recently was because of me. I must also note that I support peace—now is the time," he continued.
Trump's "don't" comment appeared to be a jab at US President Joe Biden, who warned other actors in the region who were thinking of attacking Israel shortly after October 7.
"To anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: 'Don't,'" Biden said from Israel on October 10, 2023.
Trump's appointment of Witkoff
Trump appointed Witkoff, a close friend and confidant, as his administration’s Middle East envoy with the goal of securing a peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Trump reportedly also wants the deal to make progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to sources familiar with his thinking.
Walla contributed to this report.