STORY: Another 10 hostages will be released from Gaza shortly, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday (July 17), without providing additional details.

Trump made the comment during a dinner with Republican lawmakers at the White House, lauding the efforts of his special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Israeli and Hamas negotiators have been taking part in the latest round of ceasefire talks in Doha since July 6, discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day ceasefire.

"We got most of the hostages back. We're going to have another 10 coming very shortly, and we hope to have that finished quickly," Trump said.

During the dinner Trump also praised Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their diplomatic and lawmaking efforts during the first months of his administration.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 18, 2025) (U.S. NETWORK POOL – No use USA)

1. VARIOUS OF U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ARRIVING AT WHITE HOUSE DINNER WITH REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS

2. TRUMP AT LECTERN STARTING SPEECH (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Gaza, we got most of the hostages back. We're going to have another ten coming very shortly. And we hope to have that finished pretty quickly. And Steve Witkoff has been fantastic. He's done a great job in that. He's a very good man, good dealmaker. I said I need a good dealmaker with a good personality, and there aren't too many of them. But Steve is, and he's done a great job.”

4. TRUMP SPEAKING AT LECTERN (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“And just a few weeks ago, we had the biggest victory of them all when you passed the One Big, Beautiful Bill and I just signed it into law and I call it the Great Big, Beautiful Bill, but I got overridden by a couple of my people. They said, 'Let's go out the One Big,' but it is really the Great Big. And we delivered the largest tax cut in American history, the largest spending cut in American history, the most deregulation in American history, and the largest border security investment in American history and the biggest success on the border in American history.”

6. TRUMP SPEAKING AT LECTERN (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Just everyone in this room is special. We've had… you're all friends and you've just been incredible people. Because again, getting all of these votes, with you know… You can't lose two. And we had a couple, you can't lose two. And we actually had it where we were down much closer than this. And we said we're a heart attack away from losing the Senate. We were just helping everybody’s going to stay good and healthy. But we had some pretty close moments. But I don't think anybody's ever come close to doing this with a pretty tight majority to put it nicely. So now we have three and I think we have a chance in the midterms. I don't understand why they say that when you win the presidency, you always almost automatically lose the midterms because nobody's had a more successful period of time than we have.”

8. VARIOUS OF SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN THUNE AND SENIOR SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL LISTENING TO TRUMP

9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“And I'd like to thank Vice President J.D. Vance, who's here someplace. Thank you. Thank you. And he's been so terrific, J.D. and we appreciate it. And you helped us a lot during those late evenings over the last three nights. And you really have been tremendous. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio, this man is travelling all over the place. He's always travelling. He's going to different countries. He loves it. He's a natural. He's a natural. There's never going to be anybody better than the job you're doing right now. We appreciate it. We have some big things coming up too. And Marco, we have some big things coming up. Right? Some big things and some very positive things. And thank you very much. Doing a fantastic job.”

10. VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE SITTING AND LISTENING TO TRUMP’S SPEECH

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Who would have thought we fought like… He was so tough.Ted, he was tough in that debate stand, right? And you were very tough on the debate stand too. You guys were brutal. Who would think they are my friends. And now they're my friends. Well, they said it about Lincoln. He brought in all his enemies. Well, I don't know. They were sort of enemies, but they were very talented people. I want to tell you that.”

12. TRUMP AT LECTERN SPEAKING (NOT A SOUNDBITE)

13. VARIOUS OF VANCE AND RUBIO GREETING ATTENDEES

14. DINNER IN PROGRESS