President Trump gave a warm welcome to Marc Fogel, an American teacher who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2021, as he spent his first hours back on United States soil Tuesday evening.
Mr. Fogel arrives at the White House in the snow with an American flag wrapped around his shoulders and holding a beer can. He was emotional as he talked to Mr. Trump, saying he was in “total awe.”
He greeted other American officials and shared some of what it was like to return before heading inside.
“I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now,” Mr. Fogel said inside the White House. “I want you to know that I’m not a hero in this at all and President Trump is a hero, these men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes, the senators and representatives that passed legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes.”
“I am in awe of what they all did,” he said. “My family has been a force.”
Mr. Trump said “appreciate[s] very much” that Russia let Mr. Fogel go, saying that Russia was “very fair” in the terms of letting Mr. Fogel go. He announced that another individual will be released back to the U.S. on Wednesday.
Mr. Fogel said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “very generous and statesman-like” for granting him a pardon.
Mr. Trump said this deal to get Mr. Fogel home “could be a very important element” of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Mr. Fogel, a Pennsylvania teacher, was arrested on charges of bringing medical marijuana into Russia in August 2021. He began serving a 14-year sentence in June 2022. He was classified as wrongly detained by the Biden administration last year.
He was in Russia working as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow. Russian officials arrested him at an airport in Moscow. He was found carrying about 17 grams of cannabis, which his family and lawyer said was approved by a doctor to treat “severe spinal pain.”
Mr. Trump announced earlier Tuesday that Mr. Fogel was being released and brought back to the U.S., saying his Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff negotiated the American teacher’s release.
Mr. Witkoff traveled to Russia to get Mr. Fogel and bring him back on his plane.
In a statement, Mr. Fogel’s family thanked Mr. Trump for securing his release.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” said the statement from Mr. Fogel’s wife, Jane, and sons Ethan and Sam.
Lawmakers from Pennsylvania celebrated the return of Mr. Fogel. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, thanked Mr. Trump and Mr. Witkoff in an X post for getting the teacher home.
“Marc Fogel’s return home is long overdue—and I know all of Pennsylvania, especially his family, will be welcoming him back with open arms,” Mr. Fetterman said.
Sen. Dave McCormick, Pennsylvania Republican, said in an X post that “it’s a great day for Pennsylvania with Marc Fogel finally coming home.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.