Later that day, during his CPAC address, Trump blamed his predecessor for the October 7th invasion, reiterating previous claims that the Biden White House’s softening of economic measures against Iran, including the unfreezing of Iranian assets and sanctions waivers, had enabled Tehran to fund proxy groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
“October 7th – Israel – would have never happened if I was president. It would have never happened. Iran was broke. They had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah. They had no money to give. Everybody knows that. Jewish people in the audience know that. Iran was broke. They were not giving money around,” he said.
“When I got out [of office], [the Biden administration] took all the sanctions off, and Iran became rich very quickly. With oil, you can become rich very, very quickly. And the rest is history. What a horrible thing.”
Trump also accused Biden of failing to secure the release of any hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
“Even though the hostages are coming back, I saw this morning that we got six more back. Biden got none, by the way…none, zero. He would have never gotten any of them back.
“But they’re coming back in pretty bad shape,” he added. “It’s a horrible thing. And many are dead. Many are dead. So we’ll see how that all ends up. But I just want you to know we’re working on that.”
In November 2023, Hamas released 105 hostages – including 81 Israeli nationals – as part of a ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the Biden administration.