Trump's Ominous Warning on Iran

Donald Trump issued a warning on Monday about President Joe Biden's deal to secure five United States citizens who were detained by Iran.

Biden's deal, which was announced in August and took two years to negotiate, according to The New York Times, has come under scrutiny over its concessions to Iran. The Biden administration agreed to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian oil funds currently held in a South Korea bank, as well as return five Iranian prisoners who have faced charges in the U.S. in exchange for the five Americans. Critics of the deal, meanwhile, have said it could risk national security or encourage the capture of more Americans.

Trump, who is running in the 2024 Republican primary election to challenge Biden next November, blasted the deal, while touting his own efforts to retrieve hostages during his administration in a Truth Social post on Monday morning.

"I brought 58 HOSTAGES home from many different countries, including North Korea, and I never paid anything. They all understood they MUST LET THESE PEOPLE COME HOME! Toward the end, it got so that countries didn't even start the conversation asking for money, because they knew they would not get it," the former president wrote. "Once you pay, you always pay, & MANY MORE HOSTAGES WILL BE TAKEN. Our grossly incompetent "leader," Crooked Joe Biden, gave 6 BILLION DOLLARS for 5 people. Iran gave ZERO for 5. He's Dumb as a ROCK!"

Trump's critique of the deal came just hours after a plane carrying the five hostages, as well as two of their family members who had been barred from leaving Iran, left the country on Monday morning. The deal follows tense relations between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program.

Three of the American hostages freed on Monday have been identified as Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, while the identities of two have not been revealed. Namazi had been detained since 2015, while Sharghi and Tahbaz were arrested in 2018.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

Th former president has been critical of Biden's previous deals to secure the release of U.S. citizens from the custody of its adversaries, such as Biden's deal to secure the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner who was held in Russia for possession of cannabis products last year in exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

"She [Griner] went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they're very vigilant about drugs. They don't like drugs. And she got caught. And now we're supposed to get her," Trump said on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show last year. "She makes a lot of money, I guess. But we're supposed to get her out for an absolute killer, and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. Killed many Americans, killed many people, and he's gonna get a free card."

While Trump says he never paid anything, his administration did give some concessions in hostage deals. In 2019, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks were traded in exchange for three Taliban leaders. The following year, the U.S. returned an Iranian scientist just days before Iran released Marine Michael White from custody, though officials denied that this was a prisoner swap.

Biden Administration Defends Hostage Exchange

The Biden administration has defended the exchange. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told NPR that the White House has had to "make tough decisions" in negotiations. Miler said the $6 billion will be held in a secure account in Qatar and can only be used for humanitarian purposes.

"There were five American citizens who have been jailed under brutal conditions, one of them for more than eight years. And the secretary and the president decided that we need to do everything we can to bring them home, and that's what we're doing," he said.

Biden on Monday also warned that anyone with U.S. passports should not travel to Iran, doubling down on a longstanding State Department warning.

"The U.S. State Department has a longstanding travel warning that states: 'Do not travel to Iran due to the risk of kidnapping and the arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens.' All Americans should heed those words and have no expectation that their release can be secured if they do not,'" the White House wrote in a statement.