Trump frees some jailed Americans overseas -- but endangers others
Even as the president celebrated the release of three U.S. citizens from North Korea, the relative of two more detained in Tehran said he was 'crushed' amid spiking hostility with Iran.
By NAHAL TOOSI 05/11/2018 05:00 AM EDT
In one 24-hour span this week, President Donald Trump managed to do two strangely contradictory things: He won the release of three imprisoned Americans while seeking a nuclear deal with North Korea. But he also likely prolonged the captivity of several other Americans by quitting a nuclear deal with Iran.
Hours before Trump triumphantly welcomed the men released by North Korea early Thursday morning, a relative of two U.S. citizens held in Iran pleaded with Trump not to forget his family amid spiking tensions between the countries.
The contrasting dramas underscore the complex and emotionally wrenching role that prisoners and hostages can play in foreign policy decisions — a dynamic likely to haunt Trump’s presidency as it has those of all his modern predecessors. More than a dozen Americans are believed imprisoned in at least three countries on what human rights advocates call baseless charges. As president, Trump, who considers himself a master negotiator, finds himself bargaining not for real estate but for human lives.
“The most important thing is patience,” said Gerald Feierstein, a former senior State Department official. “You don’t want to make the other party think that you would do anything to get the prisoners released, because if you raise the value of the prisoners then you get into a situation where it becomes more difficult, not less, to get them released.”
Patience is not Trump’s signature trait, and he has shown little of it when it comes to Iran.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/11/trump-jailed-americans-iran-north-korea-581181