Trump secures Robert Gilman's release from Russia without prisoner swap
>> Griff: WELCOME BACK. U.S. MARINE VETERAN ROBERT. GILMAN RETURNING HOME AFTER. PRESIDENT TRUMP SECURED HIS. RELEASE WITHOUT A PRISONER SWAP. IN RUSSIA. FOUR YEARS IN CUSTODY AND. CONCERNS ABOUT HIS HEALTH. WITKOFF POSTING THESE IMAGES. HERE ON X EARLIER THIS MORNING. SAYING QUOTE A SPECIAL NIGHT. WELCOMING AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. HOME TO HIS FAMILY AND COUNTRY. THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR.
NEVER LEAVING ANYONE BEHIND. THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS. WRONGFULLY DETAINED OVERSEA HAS. JUMPED 162% IN RECENT YEARS. IN 2025, MORE AMERICANS CAME. HOME FROM CAPTIVITY THAN ANY. OTHER YEAR IN THE PAST TWO. DECADES. WITH THAT, LET'S BRING IN. RETIRED NAVY SEAL COMMANDERS AND. FORMER HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR DAN. WHO HE SHAE. DAN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. WHAT REALLY STANDS OUT HERE IS. THAT IT DIDN'T REQUIRE A. PRISONER SWAP. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US? >> WELL, WHAT REALLY IS BEHIND. THE SCENES.
OBVIOUSLY, THE CONDITIONS THIS. INDIVIDUAL, THIS FORMER MARINE. WERE ATROCIOUS. HE HAD BEEN IN A COMATOSE STATE. FOR UPWARDS OF 50-ODD DAYS. HE WASN'T TAKING FOOD AND IT WAS. A VERY DIRE SITUATION. SO, HE WAS EITHER COMING HOME TO. AMERICA OR HE WAWAS GOING TO DIE. IN A RUSSIAN JAIL. >> Griff: SO YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE. EXPERIENCE IN THIS. YOU WERE IN IRAQ DOING THIS VERY. THING. THE HOSTAGE NEGOTIATIONS. WALK US THROUGH OBVIOUSLY THE.
HUMANITARIAN PART WAS AN ISSUE, ON THE FLIP SIDE, VLADIMIR PUTIN. LOVES HOSTAGE DIPLOMACY, RAISING. THE STAKES. WE SAW WITH BRITTNEY GRINER AND. OTHER HIGH PROFILE CASES, WHAT. WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS ONE, PERHAPS? >> WELL, THE REALITY IS HOSTAGE. NEGOTIATION DEEPER WORLDWIDE. PHENOMENON, ESPECIALLY WITH THE. PUTIN REGIME. PROBABLY MORE EXPERIENCED WITH. THIS THAN ANY OTHER LEADER. THROUGHOUT IN THE WORLD. THEY WILL BRING UP TRUMPED UP. CHARGES AGAINST AN INDIVIDUAL,
AND SPECIFICALLY AMERICANS. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE. TIMES. IT HAPPENED WITH BRITTNEY. GRINER. THEY WILL FIND AND CHARGE AND. CHARGE THEM WITH A CRIME AND. EXPAND. THIS ROBERT GILMAN WAS UNDER --. IN JAIL FOR REPORTEDLY QUICKING. A WILL POLICE OFFICER DEEMED. DRUNK AND DISORDERLY IN PUBLIC. WHICH WOULD NORMALLY GET YOU 48. HOURS IN THE DRUNK TANK. SOMEWHERE AND RELEASED ON BOND. ON MONDAY. HE WAS SENTENCED UP TO 10 YEARS. AND HE WAS UNDER EXTREME. PRESSURE. HE WAS TORTURED IN PRISON.
HE WAS GIVEN PSYCHOTIC DRUGS. YOU CAN IMAGINE HIS DIETARY. SYSTEM WAS PROBABLY CHALLENGED. WITH THE FOOD OR LACK THERE. SO HE WAS BEING TORTURED. AGAIN, RUSSIA, THE DIPLOMACY IS. A WAY THEY HOLD AMERICANS. PRISONER ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES. TO GET CONCESSIONS FROM THE. UNITED STATES. AND IN THIS CASE. UNDER TRUMP, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, NO ONE DRIVES A HARDER BARGAIN, HE WAS RELEASED RIGHT NOW ON. HUMANITARIAN CAUSE, WHICH IS A. HUGE WIN FOR THIS ADMINISTRATION.
AND FOR MR. GILMAN AND HIS. FAMILY. >> Griff: A HUGE WIN FOR THIS. ADMINISTRATION. AS NOTED IN THE INTRO THERE, THIS ADMINISTRATION, STEVE. WITKOFF BOWLER, OTHERS, JARED. KUSHNER QUITE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS. ENDEAVOR. LET ME BROADEN IT A LITTLE BIT. AND ASK YOU DO YOU SEE ANY. CORRELATION BETWEEN THIS. INCIDENT AND, OF COURSE, THE. BROADER UKRAINE WAR?
PUTIN DOTS NOT GIVE UP ANYTHING. WITHOUT SOMETHING IN RETURN. BRITTNEY GRINER HEADLINES FOR. MONTH. LEVERAGED IT AND HE DID. ENDED UP GETTING ONE OF THE MOST. WANTED MEN ALIVE. THE LORD OF WAR RETURNED ON. BEHALF OF BRITTNEY GRINER. AND, IN THIS CASE, A COUPLE. YEARS LATER, NOW HE IS JUST. GIVING UP SOMEONE TO TRY TO GET. MAYBE SOME GOODWILL. THE UKRAINIAN WAR HAS DRAGGED. ON. NO ONE IS WINNING, CERTAINLY NOT. IN RUSSIA. THIS MAY BE A CONCESSION THAT HE. IS WILLING TO GIVE UP SOMETHING.
TO HOPEFULLY HAVE SOME GOOD. FAVOR ON BEHALF OF TRUMP WHEN IT. COMES DOWN TO NEGOTIATION. ULTIMATELY, THIS IS PROBABLY A. SIGN OF PUTIN CRACKING. I GUARANTEE YOU IT IS TIED TO. THE UKRAINIAN WAR, WHICH IS WHY. HE GAVE UP THIS AMERICAN. BETTER TO GIVE HIM UP AND GET. SOMETHING IN RETURN IN THIS. AMERICAN DIE IN THIS JAIL AND. GETTING CONDEMNATION FOR IT. >> Griff: WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO. WELCOME ROBERT GILMAN HOME. HE IS GOING TO HAVE A LONG ROAD.
AHEAD MEDICINE PARTICULARLY.
