Trump meets with U.S. pastor freed by Turkey
U.S. President Donald Trump held a White House meeting Saturday with the American pastor freed from Turkey, telling him the United States negotiated "long and hard" for his release and that "we do not pay ransom in this country."
Andrew Brunson was freed in Turkey on Friday after being convicted of having links to terrorism and being sentenced to three years in prison. The 50-year-old evangelical pastor was freed because he had already spent nearly two years in detention. An earlier charge of espionage was dropped.
Brunson asked God for "supernatural wisdom" for Trump.
"You really fought for us," Brunson said.
Word of Brunson's arrival back on U.S. soil Saturday came earlier from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. Perkins tweeted just after noon that he had landed at a military base outside Washington with Brunson and his wife, Norine.
'I don't make deals for hostages'
Trump said in an earlier tweet that confirmed the White House meeting, "It will be wonderful to see and meet him. He is a great Christian who has been through such a tough experience."
The president also asserted anew that he had made "no deal" with Turkey to win Brunson's long-sought freedom.
"I don't make deals for hostages," he said.
Trump also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had resisted the demands of Trump and other high-level U.S. officials for Brunson's release. Erdogan had insisted that his country's courts are independent, though he previously had suggested a possible swap for Brunson.
The Trump administration had repeatedly called for Brunson's release and, this year, sanctioned two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Trump said the U.S. greatly appreciated Brunson's release and said the move "will lead to good, perhaps great, relations" between the U.S. and fellow NATO ally Turkey.
Erdogan responded to Trump on Twitter, saying that "as I've always emphasized, the Turkish judiciary made its decision independently. I hope the U.S. and Turkey will continue its cooperation as it befits two allies."
Erdogan also called for joint efforts against terrorism, and he listed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group, Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric whom Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.
Strained U.S.-Turkey relations
Relations between the countries have become severely strained over Brunson's detention and other issues.
Brunson's homecoming amounts to a diplomatic high note for Trump, who is counting on the support of evangelical Christians for Republican candidates in the Nov. 6 midterm election. Thousands of Trump's supporters cheered Friday night at a rally in Ohio when Trump informed them that Brunson was once again a free man.
"I'm really proud to report that earlier today we secured the release of pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkey," Trump said.
Trump reminded the Ohio audience of other detained Americans who regained their freedom under his leadership. They include three Americans released this year by North Korea before Trump's historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and an Egyptian-American charity worker freed by Egypt in 2017.
"We bring a lot of people back and that's good," Trump said.
'I love Turkey'
Brunson was flown out of Turkey on Friday. He was taken to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for a medical checkup.
"I love Jesus. I love Turkey," an emotional Brunson, who had maintained his innocence, told the court at Friday's hearing. He tearfully hugged his wife.
Brunson's release could benefit Turkey by allowing the government to focus on an escalating diplomatic crisis over Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to the Washington Post who has been missing for more than a week and is feared dead after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, was killed in the consulate; Saudi officials deny it.
Turkey may also hope the U.S. will now lift the tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports, a move that would inject confidence into an economy rattled by high inflation and foreign currency debt.
But Brunson's release doesn't resolve disagreements over U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, as well as a plan by Turkey to buy Russian missiles. Turkey is also frustrated by the refusal of the U.S. to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of engineering the failed coup.
Brunson was accused of committing crimes on behalf of Gulen and Kurdish militants who have been fighting the Turkish state for decades. He faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges against him.
The pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, N.C., led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church. He was imprisoned for nearly two years after being detained in October 2016. Brunson was formally arrested that December and placed under house arrest on July 25 for health reasons.
