“No American should fear being taken as a political pawn by rogue states. Wrongful detentions are an affront to the rule of law and aim to undermine our leadership on the world stage,” the order reads. “The United States will not tolerate these attacks on our sovereignty and U.S. nationals.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is directed by the new order to designate foreign nations as state sponsors of unlawful detention if their actions result in wrongful detainment of American citizens.
Consequences for nations designated state sponsors include sanctions, travel restrictions, and export limitations, among other things.
The order is the equivalent of “drawing a line in the sand that U.S. citizens will not be used as bargaining chips,” Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president, said during the event.
He said Trump’s administration is meeting with families of hostages on a regular basis to assure them that the government is prioritizing the return of their loved ones.
By releasing all hostages and demonstrating a change of policy related to unlawful detention, countries can have the designation removed, according to the order.
The law “provides a new legal mechanism” that gives the administration “powerful tools to get American hostages out,” Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, said during the signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
Special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler held a chart illustrating the number of hostages returned since Trump retook office in January.
Trump helped bring back 72 hostages in seven months compared to 20 that were taken during President Joe Biden’s administration, Moller said.
Trump said prior leaders opted to use cash incentives to liberate hostages, but his administration uses alternative tactics.
“We don’t pay, and if you don’t pay, they find it to be not a lucrative business anymore,” Trump said.
He spoke to the press for nearly an hour and a half while sitting behind the Resolute Desk, first signing the Home Buyers Privacy Protection Act and another executive order that changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.
The latest order was the 201st issued by the president in his first 228 days since the beginning of his second term in January—a pace that marks the quickest in modern history, trailing only President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s record from his first stint in the White House in 1933.
