President Donald Trump braved freezing weather and falling snow Tuesday night to welcome home former Russian hostage Marc Fogel outside the White House.
Following several minutes of chitchat with the coatless Fogel, the president suggested they move inside to "get you out of the cold."
"I'm not one bit of cold. I came from Russia," Fogel said, drawing laughs from onlooking lawmakers and officials.
Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, was released and returned to the U.S. in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, left Russia with Fogel and brought him to the White House.
Fogel's emotional return was seen in a 14-minute video that Trump posted late Tuesday night on Truth Social.
In another post, Trump included three photos and the words, "Welcome home, Marc Fogel." The photos showed Fogel, wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers ski cap, with his hands crossed over his heart after leaving the plane; Fogel kissing the ground; and Fogel, with Old Glory draped around his neck, shaking hands with Trump outside an entrance to the White House as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others looked on.
"You look good," Trump tells Fogel upon first seeing the former hostage. The two men speak as lawmakers and officials congratulate Witkoff.
Fogel can be heard saying, "I want to thank you and your administration and these amazing people that brought me home."
The former hostage then shakes hands with officials including Johnson and Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., who hosted Fogel's mom in Pennsylvania.
Fogel tells McCormick, "I'm a proud Pittsburgher."
Nearly five minutes into the video, Trump, Fogel and others are seen entering the Oval Office.
"I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now," Fogel said, briefly choking up, while standing next to Trump with the American flag still draped around his shoulders.
"I want you to know, I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero. These men that came form the diplomatic service are heroes. The senators and representative that passed legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes. I am in awe of what they all did."
Holding a canned beverage, a grateful Fogel said his mother was "the most dynamic 95-year-old on Earth right now" and referenced former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's quote that, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few."
He recounted 3½ years in prison, including 400 days in a hospital, being given "more than 400 injections."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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