Trump Marks October 7 Anniversary and Claims Credit for Return of Hostages, “Both the Living and the Dead”
Donald Trump marked the third anniversary of the Hamas massacre with a Truth Social message that honoured the murdered, condemned Hamas and presented the return of every hostage as his own achievement.
US President Donald Trump marked the third anniversary of the October 7 attack with a message on Truth Social that commemorated those murdered, condemned Hamas and credited his own efforts with bringing the hostages home, “both the living and the dead!”
The post was published on Wednesday, October 7, at 17:24 US Eastern time, which was 00:24 on Thursday, October 8, in Israel. In Washington it was still the afternoon of the anniversary; in Israel, the day of remembrance had already ended. Its text and timestamp are preserved by Trump's Truth, a site that archives his Truth Social posts.
What the message said
Trump remembered those killed in the attack and addressed the survivors and the families of the victims. He condemned Hamas, the terrorist organisation behind the massacre, and pledged that his opposition to terrorism would continue.
The hostages stood at the centre of the message. Trump presented their return as the result of his own efforts, stressing that they had come back “both the living and the dead!” The post did not mention Iran or the disarmament of Hamas.
First anniversary without hostages in Gaza
The message came on an anniversary unlike the two before it. The Associated Press, in its anniversary report, and CNN, in a broadcast on October 7, both described this as the first anniversary of the attack since every hostage, living and deceased, had been returned.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered about 1,200 people in Israel and abducted 251 into Gaza, according to Israeli official figures. On the first and second anniversaries, families marked the day while their loved ones were still held in the Gaza Strip. This year, as Israel held its third anniversary remembrance, no hostage remained in captivity. For the families, it was the first anniversary on which no one was still waiting for a relative to come back from Gaza.
That is the record Trump's wording reflected. By naming both the living and the dead, his message acknowledged that the return of the bodies of murdered hostages was part of the outcome, alongside the release of those who came home alive.
Commemoration and a claim of credit
The message joined remembrance with Trump's account of his own diplomatic achievements, placing the hostage outcome at the heart of how he marked the day. Condemnation of Hamas and a promise to keep fighting terrorism framed that claim.
The return of all the hostages is documented by independent reporting; the assertion that his efforts secured it is Trump's own. His post does not set out how many hostages came home in each phase, under which arrangements, or what part other mediators played, and a full public account of that division of responsibility has yet to be published.
