OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:14 PM – Sunday, October 12, 2025
President Donald Trump took off for Israel on Sunday to greet the families of Israeli hostages while also addressing the Knesset.
President Trump’s visit coincides with the release of the remaining hostages, as he was able to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Trump took off from Joint Base Andrews aboard Air Force One at around 5 p.m. Eastern time. The flight is expected to take approximately 10.5 hours.
Trump is traveling with key White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, State Department chief of protocol Monica Crowley, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Presidential Personnel Office head Dan Scavino, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Speaking with the press prior to boarding the plane, President Trump celebrated the peace deal, noting that “There are 500,000 people yesterday and today in Israel, and also the Muslim and Arab countries are all cheering. Everybody’s cheering at one time — that’s never happened before.”
Aboard the plane, reporters asked President Trump for an update on the hostage release deal, to which he responded: “Well, I hear the hostages might be [released] even a little bit early, but I don’t want to say that. So they have the hostages — I understand all 20 — and we may get them out a little bit early. Getting them was amazing, actually, because we were involved and they were in places that you don’t want to know about.”
“They’re getting them, and they’re also getting the bodies, approximately 28 bodies. … It’s a tragedy,” Trump stated.
President Trump also declared that the Israel-Hamas war “is over,” expressing optimism that the ceasefire will hold.
“The war is over. The war is over,” Trump stated. “I think [the ceasefire] is going to hold. I think people are … a lot of reasons why it’s gonna hold, but I think people are tired of it. It’s been — it’s been centuries.”
President Trump’s short visit to Israel is expected to include a brief ceremony upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport. President Trump is then expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before addressing the Knesset.
President Trump is also expected to attend an international summit at the Red Sea resort in Egypt on Monday to finalize the peace agreement. Trump is set to conclude his trip by meeting with the families of the hostages in the Knesset’s Chagall Hall.
Additionally, upon returning, President Trump is expected to honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on October 14th.
“It’s a very quick trip, but I’ll be making two major stops, and then I’ll be on the plane trying to get back in time for Charlie,” Trump stated on Friday. “They’re going to have a great celebration at the White House — in the East Room of the White House.”
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