Forty-seven US hostages released in Trump's first 100 days: Sebastian Gorka

A total of 47 U.S. hostages have been released in President Trump's first 100 days in office, according to deputy assistant to the president Sebastian Gorka.

"47 hostages in 100 days thanks to the President," Gorka posted on X on Wednesday a video of one of the released hostages. "This is today, Dulles Airport. Tony Holden is a contractor from Memphis that was imprisoned for four years and hasn’t seen his youngest daughter since she was a baby. He’s home. Because of President @realDonaldTrump. 47 for 47."

Holden was one of 10 additional hostages released by Kuwait, an American ally, to the U.S. on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Before this latest release, Kuwait sent 13 hostages back to the U.S. in the past two months.

The detained Americans included military contractors and veterans who were held for years on drug charges and other offenses, which some have said were trumped-up charges.

Holden is an HVAC technician and career defense contractor who was working in support of Camp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait, when he was arrested in November 2022. 

His family and supporters claim he was “set up by corrupt Kuwaiti police looking to earn bonuses,” and that he was coerced into signing a written confession in Arabic for a drug possession charge, despite testing negative for drugs and abstaining from them for religious reasons.