Trump greets Fogel in the White House after release as hostages

An emotional Marc Fogel, the American teacher who was caught in Russia for more than three years, told President Trump on Tuesday night that he was forever debt to him for securing his release when he was met in the White House.

With an American flag killed around his neck, Mr. Fogel out of a car and into snow that fell on Washington, and grabbed Mr. Trump’s hand as they stood by side entrance to the White House.

“President Trump is a hero,” Mr. Fogel.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Fogel then moved into the diplomatic space where both answered questions from a group of journalists. Mr. Fogel recognized his 95-year-old mother, who continued to push for his freedom.

“For me you look damn good,” Trump told Mr. Fogel, before he took him to see the Lincoln sowing room in the White House. He criticized President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration for not releasing Mr. Fogel happen earlier.

Biden -administration officials said in December that they had tried to free Mr. Fogel in a number of prisoner developments with Russia, but had not been successful. These swaps led to the release last August of high -profile prisoners, including Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal Reporter, who was wrongly accused of spying while working as a journalist and former American marine Paul Whelan.

Mr. Trump said he hoped the release of Mr. Fogel, a Pennsylvanian described by US officials as part of an yet-of-of-the-way “exchange”, would be a first step toward negotiating an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The American special envoy to hostages, Adam Boehler, indicated in a Interview at CNN Tuesday that another American would be released on Wednesday but did not say where or give details.

On his platform, Truth Social, Trump published a photo of Mr. Fogel after pulling out the private aircraft that brought him home wearing a Pittsburgh Steeler’s knit hat and kissing the snow -capped earth.

The striking scene uncovered days with hidden discussions. Mr. Fogel’s release was negotiated in recent days by Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East -Release, whose portfolio is extended to include the war in Ukraine. Mr. Witkoff flew to Moscow on his private jet, which was picked up by a website that tracks such aircraft, as opposed to a government aircraft. Mr. Trump told reporters it was done to save government money.

Mr. Fogel had worked at the Anglo-American school in Moscow for almost 10 years, but was arrested at an airport in the city in August 2021. He was found to have traveled with cannabis, as his lawyer has said, was intended to remedy to remedy Back pain. Mr. Fogel was found guilty in June 2022 for allegedly engaged in “large -scale drug smuggling” and sentenced to 14 years at a labor camp.