White House says January 2025 meeting helped trigger events leading to Keith Siegel’s release

True

Evidence from credible sources supports the statement as accurate. Learn more in Methodology.

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Corroborating evidence (communications, timelines, corroborating witness accounts, or official records) shows a causal link between the January 2025 meeting and subsequent actions that materially contributed to Keith Siegel’s release.

Source summary

First Lady Melania Trump met privately at the White House on February 4, 2026, with Keith Siegel, an American-Israeli who was held hostage by Hamas and has since been freed. The White House statement says an earlier January 2025 meeting between Melania Trump and Aviva Siegel helped catalyze events that led to his release; Aviva gifted the First Lady a handmade book about Keith and the October 7, 2023 events. Both Keith and Aviva expressed gratitude to the First Lady and President Trump for their roles in efforts to secure the hostages' return.

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Latest fact check

The White House press release (Feb. 4, 2026) explicitly states, "The First Lady’s sit-down with Aviva Siegel in January 2025 sparked a series of events that ultimately led to Keith Siegel’s liberation from Hamas." Independent outlets (AP, CNN) reported the same account and quoted the First Lady saying she shared Aviva Siegel’s materials with President Trump and that her film credits her with playing a "key role" in securing Siegel's release. Verdict: True — the statement accurately reflects what the White House publicly said about the January 2025 meeting and its claimed role in Siegel’s release.

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Update · Feb 05, 2026, 05:48 AMTrue
The White House press release (Feb. 4, 2026) explicitly states, "The First Lady’s sit-down with Aviva Siegel in January 2025 sparked a series of events that ultimately led to Keith Siegel’s liberation from Hamas." Independent outlets (AP, CNN) reported the same account and quoted the First Lady saying she shared Aviva Siegel’s materials with President Trump and that her film credits her with playing a "key role" in securing Siegel's release. Verdict: True — the statement accurately reflects what the White House publicly said about the January 2025 meeting and its claimed role in Siegel’s release.
Update · Feb 05, 2026, 04:40 AMTrue
The White House’s Feb. 4, 2026 press release explicitly states: “The First Lady’s sit‑down with Aviva Siegel in January 2025 sparked a series of events that ultimately led to Keith Siegel’s liberation from Hamas.” Major news organizations (AP, CNN, Reuters) also report Melania Trump saying she met Aviva in January 2025, passed materials to President Trump, and that the administration credited itself with helping secure Keith Siegel’s 2025 release. Verdict: True — the statement accurately records what the White House says; independent verification that the meeting itself causally produced Siegel’s release is not established by these reports, but the claim as phrased (that the White House says this) is accurate.
Original article · Feb 04, 2026
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