Speaking at a State Department ceremony honoring hostages and their families, U.S. Senior Advisor Adam Boehler said, “There’s nothing more important for this country than for everyone to know that if they’re abroad and they’re taken that the country has their back.”
“This president, Donald Trump, has made it a critical priority of his and his administration to do that. ... You saw what the president said yesterday [March 5] to Hamas, where he made it abundantly clear that taking U.S. citizens – or any citizens - wrongfully is not appropriate and it will be answered in the toughest way possible. ... So, it’s starting a new era - I do believe it is new – where we’re saying that it is not acceptable in any case to hold American citizens abroad wrongfully.”
In the first month of President Trump’s second term in office, 11 U.S. hostages or wrongfully detained persons were released, including Marc Fogel, who had been imprisoned in Russia, two Americans held in Gaza, two in Belarus, and six in Venezuela.
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel, who had previously been involved in hostage rescue efforts while working at the National Security Council, said, “There is no one agency that gets this done. ... We will work with our partners in the CIA and the Intelligence Community. And we will demolish any political obstacles that stand in the way.”
“My singular promise to you in this community is that I will do everything as your director of the FBI to marshal the resources necessary to make sure that no other American family feels that pain. ... We still don’t have everybody back. Whatever lawful authorities we have at the FBI we are going to give 24/7, 365 days to make sure that we zero out this number and to make sure we prevent others from going into situations that you are now all too familiar with.”
Senior Advisor Boehler declared, “This President has no qualms about using actions when it’s necessary, and we will all back him up on that. ... The President will continue to push until all of our Americans, dead or alive, are returned.”
