US President Donald Trump on Monday hosted families of hostages being held by Hamas as well as hostages who were freed during a victory celebration at Washington's Capital One Arena.

The event drew significant attention as the crowd erupted in chants of "Bring them home." The families, wearing yellow scarves and holding photos of their loved ones, were seated in the arena's front row before being invited on stage.

"The work begins. We won, but now we have to bring them home," Trump declared, adding, "Some of the folks here are former hostages. Not a good situation. The three young ladies who came home—they were hurt. One had her fingers blown off. She was trying to defend herself from a bullet, can you believe this? A bullet."

"I don't know, it's a disgrace. We never stopped praying for you. We're so glad you're reunited with your friends and families," he continued.

"Some just want us to bring home their son's body. It should have never happened," Trump said.

Turning to the families, Trump asserted, "As you know, Israel would never have been hit on October 7. None of you would be up here, none of you would know anything about this tragedy that you're going through right now. Iran was broke. Anybody that bought oil from Iran, you couldn't do business with us. Everybody passed. China passed. They didn't have money for Hamas, Hezbollah. Your sons would be alive and they certainly wouldn't be incarcerated like they are. It's a shame. But we're getting a lot of people out in a short period of time."

On Sunday, Trump commented on the release of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari from Hamas captivity, as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, saying the ceasefire agreement is “a first step toward lasting peace in the Middle East”.

In early December 2024, Trump became personally involved in the issue of the hostages held in Gaza when he threatened that there would be "all hell to pay" if the hostages are not freed by the time of his inauguration on January 20.

Trump has repeated that threat multiple times in the weeks since. This past Thursday, before the deal was officially signed in Qatar, Trump again stressed the urgency of finalizing the agreement before his inauguration on Monday.

“We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office,” Trump stated during a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.

“We shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done,” he added.

On Saturday, Trump gave an interview to NBC News in which he commented on the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Asked how confident he was that the hostages would be released, Trump replied, “Well, we’re going to see very soon, and it better hold.”

He also said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Just keep doing what you have to do. You have to have — this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done.”