‘Potential Chaos if Hamas Refuses to Release Hostages’ – NPR

PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his threat that “all hell will break out” if Hamas does not agree to release hostages it has held in Gaza by the time he returns to the White House on Jan. 20.

The comments came during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago where Trump aired a long list of complaints about a wide range of issues, ranging from President Biden’s new ban on offshore drilling, to his various legal cases, to the Panama Canal.

Negotiations between Hamas and Israel are ongoing in Qatar, with Hamas this week naming 34 hostages in Gaza — including two dual U.S. citizens — it would be willing to release in a ceasefire deal.

Steve Witcoff, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, joined Trump briefly and told reporters that “we’re making a lot of progress” in trying to free hostages held by Hamas, and that he was “really hopeful that by the inaugural we’ll have some good things to announce.”

Trump would not elaborate on what he meant by his threat — first announced on social media in early December — that “all hell will break out” if a deal is not made.

“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump said.

The president-elect also reiterated that he’ll be making “major pardons” to defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, something he has said he plans to do on his first day in office. He did not rule out pardons for those charged with violent offenses, saying he’ll “be looking at the whole thing.”

Trump also downplayed that there was an attempted insurrection that day, and falsely claimed that rioters did not have guns. Several were armed with loaded handguns.

He said his administration would look into the role of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Jan. 6, though there is no evidence of any involvement by that group.

NPR investigative correspondent Tom Dreisbach contributed to this report.