How Did Trump Welcome Home Russian Hostage Marc Fogel?

The President braved the freezing temperatures and snowfall Tuesday night to welcome back Marc Fogel, a former Russian hostage. After a few minutes of chit-chat with the coatless Fogel, the president suggested that they go inside “to get you out of the cold.”

“I’m not one bit cold. I came from Russia,” Fogel said, drawing laughs from onlooking lawmakers and officials.

Fogel, a history teacher from the United States who had been wrongfully held by Russia, has been released and returned to America in a diplomatic thaw described by the White House as one that could help advance the negotiations to end Ukraine’s war.

Steve Witkoff was Trump’s special representative and he brought Fogel to the White House. Fogel’s emotional comeback was captured in a video of 14 minutes that Trump uploaded late Tuesday night to Truth Social.

In a second post, Trump posted three photos with the words “Welcome Home, Marc Fogel.” Fogel was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers cap and had his hands crossed above his heart as he exited the plane. Other photos included Fogel kissing his feet and Fogel shaking hands with Trump at the entrance to the White House while Speaker Mike Johnson and others watched.

Fogel tells Trump, “You look great,” when he first sees the former hostage. Both men talk as Witkoff is congratulated by lawmakers and officials.

Fogel is heard saying: “I would like to thank your administration, and all these wonderful people who brought me back.”

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 am a proud Pittsburgher.”

Trump, Fogel, and others can be seen entering the Oval Office in the video. Fogel, who was standing with Trump and the American flag draped over his shoulders, said: “I feel the luckiest person on earth right now.”

“I want to let you know that I am not at all a hero. President Trump is a superhero. These men who came from the diplomatic service were heroes. Heroes are senators and representatives who passed legislation to bring me home in my honor. I am in awe of what they did for me.”

Fogel, holding a can of soda, said that his mother is “the most dynamic woman on Earth at 95 years old right now.” He also cited Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister, who once said, “Never has so much been owed to so few by so many.”

He described 3 1/2 years of prison, 400 days spent in a hospital, and “more than 400 injections.”