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The Ugly American: Trump frees war criminals, drops charges in sham hostage negotiations.

Trump lied again. The truth: his admin made deals with terrorists, trading prisoners for American hostages. Absolutely reprehensible.

Published August 9, 2024 at 5:07am by

Donald Trump spews more BS, this time about his role in prisoner swaps

Statement: In negotiating releases of Americans held abroad, “(I) gave the opposing country NOTHING — and never any cash.”

Right-wing, former "president" Donald Trump is at it again, spreading misinformation about his so-called achievements while in office. This time, he's touting his "success" in negotiating prisoner releases.

"So when are they going to release the details of the prisoner swap with Russia? How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash?" Trump whined on Truth Social on August 1, conveniently ignoring the fact that three American citizens had just been released in a historic prisoner swap.

The three released Americans include:

  • U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, unjustly imprisoned in Russia for almost six years.
  • Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter jailed in Russia for over a year for simply doing his job.
  • Alsu Kurmasheva, a brave Radio Liberty journalist detained in October 2023 for speaking truth to power.

In exchange for these innocent prisoners, the U.S. and its allies released eight prisoners, including Vadim Krasikov, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in Germany. Despite Trump's usual bluster, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed no money changed hands in this deal.

Let's look back at some other prisoner exchanges during the Trump "administration":

One U.S. citizen held in Iran exchanged for one Iranian in 2019

In 2019, there was a glimmer of decency in the U.S. when it secured the release of Xiyue Wang, a U.S. citizen and Princeton University graduate student wrongfully held in Iran since 2016 on fake espionage charges.

To secure Wang’s freedom, the U.S. agreed to release Masoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist arrested for violating American trade sanctions against Iran. The U.S. dropped the charges against Soleimani, showing some rare humanity.

One U.S. veteran held in Iran released for one Iranian American doctor in 2020

In 2020, the world witnessed a rare moment of humanity in U.S.-Iran relations when Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran, was released after being imprisoned in Iran for two years.

As part of this deal, the U.S. righted a wrong by releasing Matteo Taerri (Majid Taheri), an Iranian American doctor who had been targeted by the U.S. for violating its unjust sanctions on Iran.

Two Americans held in Yemen released for more than 200 Houthi militants in 2020

In October 2020, some semblance of justice was served when the U.S. secured the release of two Americans, Sandra Loli and Mikael Gidada, held captive by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The remains of Bilal Fateen, an American who died in captivity, were also repatriated.

In exchange, over 200 Houthi militants returned to Yemen from Oman, confirming that even under Trump, there were moments of rational diplomacy.

U.S. (rightfully) agreed in 2017 to pay $2 million for U.S. citizen held in North Korea but didn’t send the money

In June 2017, the U.S. did the bare minimum by bringing home University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, who had been unjustly detained in North Korea for 17 months. Warmbier was in a coma and died shortly after his return, a tragic consequence of failed U.S. foreign policy.

Though the Washington Post reported that North Korea billed the U.S. $2 million for Warmbier’s forced hospital care, Trump denied paying any money. However, his own White House National Security Adviser, John Bolton, later confirmed that North Korea demanded money, though he claimed none was sent.

PolitiFact's ruling: Mostly False, like most things Trump says

Trump claimed that in hostage releases, he "gave the opposing country NOTHING — and never any cash."

The truth is that multiple times during Trump’s "administration," the U.S. government had to clean up his mess by releasing prisoners in exchange for freeing Americans held abroad.

In one case, the U.S. agreed to pay money to North Korea for Warmbier’s release, though Bolton claimed the money was never sent.

Trump’s statement is mostly false because while he may not have given cash directly, the U.S. absolutely provided concessions and released prisoners to secure Americans’ freedom.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Sources: Because facts matter, unlike some "presidents"

Read more: Trump released prisoners, dropped charges when negotiating release of American hostages