Trump to Meet Freed Pastor at White House on Saturday

The Associated Press
10/13/2018
Updated:
10/13/2018

US President Donald Trump says he will meet with pastor Andrew Brunson in the Oval Office on Oct. 13, following his release by Turkey.

Trump says the 50-year-old pastor “suffered greatly” but is in “very good shape.”

A Turkish court on Friday convicted the North Carolina native of terror links but released him from house arrest and allowed him to leave the country.

Brunson’s case had become a cause celebre among conservative Christians.

The president spoke about Brunson on Friday after arriving in Ohio for a campaign event and after the pastor was airborne.

It’s the president’s third campaign rally this week with a fourth one scheduled for Saturday night in Kentucky.

During the Ohio rally the U.S. president also spoke about the devastation of Hurricane Michael, saying the Trump administration has been in “constant communication with the state and local authorities, all over the various states.”

“When we’re in trouble we pull together - we pull together like nobody,” he said.