Grenell: US Gave Venezuela Nothing in Exchange for 6 Freed American Hostages

‘I looked at Mr. Maduro, and I said, “We’d like to have our hostages home, and I want to bring home six today,”' Grenell said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (R) shakes hands with Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump's special envoy, at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 31, 2025. Venezuela's presidential press office via AP

OXON HILL, Md.—The Trump administration did not give Venezuela anything in exchange for the six American hostages who were freed last month, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell said on Feb. 20.

Speaking with The Epoch Times at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, Grenell described his visit with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the capital, Caracas. He said his goals were to free the prisoners and get Venezuela to accept and pay for repatriation flights of its illegal immigrants from the United States.