Trump’s “America First” Agenda Brings Another Citizen Home

Continuing one of the greatest legacies from his first term, President Donald Trump has secured the release of another American unjustly imprisoned abroad.

Trump announced last week that former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman was coming home after over four years of imprisonment in Russia. This accomplishment brings the total number of American hostages freed since the beginning of Trump’s second term to 109.

Gilman, a teacher from Massachusetts who says he was in Russia to teach English, was arrested in January 2022 and sentenced to ten years in prison after being accused of assaulting a police officer and attacking prison staff. Gilman has disputed the Russian government’s characterization of his initial charges. Video from the prison incident shows Gilman knocking a jailer to the ground after he prodded Gilman’s groin area.

While in prison, Gilman was subjected to brutal beatings and physical abuse. He was described as being “on death’s door” when he was released, and he is now being treated at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Gilman was accompanied by Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka and Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on his return trip. Trump said in a statement that no prisoner was exchanged for his safety.

“After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” the president explained. “We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place.”

Witkoff stated in a post on X that Gilman’s safe return was a result of the president’s leadership and commitment to ensuring that Americans being held overseas are returned home safely.

“His return is another testament to [Trump’s] extraordinary leadership and unwavering commitment to bringing Americans home. Under his leadership, Marc Fogel and Ksenia Karelina were also brought home from Russia,” Witkoff said. “At the President’s direction, Secretary Marco Rubio, Adam Boehler, Sebastian Gorka, Jared Kushner and I worked closely together to secure Robert’s release.”

The Trump administration’s success in safely bringing Gilman back to the United States stands in stark contrast to how Joe Biden’s administration handled American hostages held overseas.

In February 2022, WNBA player Brittney Griner was arrested at an airport in Moscow for having vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She was given a nine-year prison sentence after pleading guilty. The Biden administration only managed to free her later that year after agreeing to release convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Bout was known as the “Merchant of Death” and was in the middle of serving a 25-year prison sentence. The trade was widely panned for being a deal that heavily favored Russia. Bout was convicted in 2011 for a conspiracy to “kill Americans, conspiracy to deliver anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding a terrorist organization,” according to Fox News.

Prosecutors said that Bout was prepared to provide a terrorist group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia with $20 million of “a breathtaking arsenal of weapons — including hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, machine guns and sniper rifles — 10 million rounds of ammunition and five tons of plastic explosives” when he was caught in 2008.

In 2023, Biden agreed to another controversial deal with Iran, unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian assets and releasing several Iranian prisoners in exchange for five American hostages.

Republican Senator Jim Risch torched Biden in a post on X for the deal.

“While I welcome home wrongfully detained Americans, unfreezing $6B in Iranian assets dangerously further incentivizes hostage-taking & provides a windfall for regime aggression,” he wrote. “The Biden Admin must punish those who use Americans as political pawns and work to end this practice.”

Even in his own negotiations to free American prisoners from Russia in 2024, Biden made shocking concessions. In exchange for Russia releasing Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as well as other Americans and German citizens, the U.S., Germany, and other allied nations released several Russian prisoners, including Vadim Krasikov from Germany. Krasikov had “assassinated a Chechen dissident in a Berlin park in 2019,” according to the Washington Examiner.

The Trump administration has prioritized securing the return of wrongfully detained Americans without releasing terrorists or other dangerous individuals. Of the 109 Americans returned so far, many were held prisoner by adversarial countries and entities, including Hamas and Afghanistan.

In a statement on Thursday, the White House celebrated this accomplishment. “In a little over one year, President Donald J. Trump has brought back over 100 American hostages from captivity abroad without paying a single dollar to their captors,” the White House shared on X.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio celebrated all the Americans returned home on Tuesday as well. “Mr. Gilman joins over 100 Americans whom President Trump has freed during his second term in office,” Rubio said. He added that the administration is “still seeking the immediate return of all other unjustly detained Americans.”

Trump’s record of prisoner releases, which includes more than 50 during his first term, is one of the clearest examples of his “America First” agenda in action. For the Americans still unjustly detained overseas, Gilman’s return offers renewed hope that they, too, will soon be reunited with their families. And for hostile governments, it sends a clear message that the United States will not forget its citizens.