After three-and-a-half years in a Russian prison, American schoolteacher Marc Fogel was greeted by President Donald Trump in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room after his release on Tuesday night.
“I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now,” said Fogel, who stood beside the president with an American flag draped on his shoulders. “I’m a middle-class school teacher who’s now in a dream world.”
Fogel, 63, was detained in Russia in August 2021, and then later sentenced to 14 years in prison for entering the country with marijuana.
“To me, he looks damned good,” Trump said, noting Fogel’s release could play an important role in ending the Ukraine War. Both Trump and Fogel thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump also revealed another unnamed person would be released on Feb. 12.
Fogel returned to the United States with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are able to announce that Mr. Witkoff is leaving Russian airspace with Marc Fogel, an American who was detained by Russia,” national security adviser Mike Waltz said in a statement.
“President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the President’s advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.”
Waltz did not say what the exchange consisted of.
When asked what Russia had received in exchange for Fogel, Trump told reporters “not much.”
“We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually,” he said. “Actually, I hope that’s the beginning of a relationship where we can end that war,” referring to the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
Fogel was detained in Russia in 2021 and sentenced to 14 years behind bars for possessing marijuana at an airport. His family has said it was for medical reasons.
It was not until October 2024 that Fogel was designated by the United States as wrongfully detained.
“The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time. We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal, but were unable to. The secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October,” the State Department said in a statement, referring to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In August, the United States helped broker and was part of a prisoner exchange that included Russia, Germany, and other countries. This resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan.
Since Trump took office for a second time last month, the United States has managed to secure the release of several Americans wrongfully detained abroad.
