Some call it transactional. Others call it effective. Either way, American hostages are coming home. And fast
It’s not like the problem suddenly disappeared. American citizens are still being detained abroad, often used as political pawns by authoritarian regimes and rogue states. For years, these cases dragged on, tangled in layers of diplomatic red tape, stalling in negotiations that never seemed to go anywhere.
Families waited. Governments made excuses. And nothing changed.
Until now. Under Trump, hostages who had been locked away for years — seemingly forgotten, their cases gathering dust — are suddenly being freed. One by one, they’re stepping off planes and onto US soil. No endless back-and-forth, no ransom payments, no lopsided swaps. Just results.
So what changed? What’s the secret?
Take Marc Fogel, the American teacher locked up in Russia since 2021 over some medical marijuana. After years of diplomatic dead ends, Trump sent Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to handle business, and just like that, Fogel was on a plane home. What did Witkoff whisper to Putin that got him to concede?
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