President Donald Trump speaks during an inaugural rally on Jan. 20, 2025, with Noa Argamani, an Israeli former hostage, standing behind him. Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

By Benyamin Cohen March 4, 2025

When Donald Trump delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress since returning to the White House, the moment will bear all the hallmarks of a State of the Union — prime-time TV, a packed House chamber, applause lines on cue. But it is the war in Gaza, and the Americans still caught in its grip, that is likely to play an important role in the audience and his remarks.

As the cameras pan the gallery, viewers will see the faces of those whose lives have been forever altered by the war that started with Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7. Noa Argamani, the young Israeli woman who was rescued from captivity in June by the Israel Defense Forces, will be a guest of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Nearby, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will host Ruby Chen and Orna Neutra, whose sons, both American citizens, were killed on Oct. 7 and whose bodies remain in Gaza.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, has invited the parents of Edan Alexander, the only living American hostage still held by Hamas. Gottheimer, who traveled to Qatar last month to push for Alexander’s release, has made the 21-year-old from Tenafly a priority.

The guest list reflects how central the hostages have become to Trump’s foreign policy agenda — one he began shaping even before his return to office. In the weeks after his election, Trump dispatched his Middle East envoy, real estate executive Steve Witkoff, to the region to work alongside the Biden administration on the final stage of ceasefire negotiations. That deal, which expired over the weekend, led to the release of dozens of hostages.

🎗️ Schumer speaks about his invited guests to Trump’s joint address to Congress, the parents of American hostages Omer Neutra and Itay Chen.

And concludes:

“We must bring all the hostages home now.” pic.twitter.com/dql34rsxEe

— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) March 4, 2025

Five former hostages — Yair Horn, Eli Sharabi, Omer Shem Tov, and Aviva and Keith Siegel — arrived Monday in the U.S. aboard the private jet of billionaire Miriam Adelson, Trump’s top Jewish donor. Senior administration officials are expected to meet with them at the White House. Former hostages Naama Levy and Doron Steinbrecher, as well as relatives of Gadi and Judi Haggai, two Americans killed on Oct. 7 whose bodies remain in Gaza, are also in Washington for meetings, according to Israeli media reports.

In tonight’s speech, Trump is expected to call for the immediate release of the remaining 59 number hostages and sharpen his attacks on Hamas. He is also likely to promote his own controversial vision for the region — a plan that would displace millions of Palestinians from Gaza and transform the coastal enclave into what he’s called a “Riviera of the Middle East.”

That idea has been roundly rejected by Arab leaders, who are meeting today in Cairo to discuss alternatives. Egypt is circulating a plan that would sideline Hamas and install an interim governing authority backed by Arab, Muslim, and Western nations. Unlike Trump’s proposal, Egypt’s does not call for the mass displacement of Palestinians, nor does it specify whether the plan would precede or follow a permanent ceasefire.

The competing visions for Gaza’s future underscore just how fractured and fragile the diplomatic response has become, nearly 17 months since the war began and with no clear end in sight.

For Trump, the speech offers a chance to frame the moment as both a personal victory lap and a call to action. While past presidents have used a speech to Congress to rally support for military campaigns or declare missions accomplished, Trump is likely to cast himself as the architect of lasting peace — even as the path ahead remains perilous.

“My proudest legacy,” he declared at his inauguration, “will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be — a peacemaker.”

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