White House takes full credit for freeing Americans wrongfully detained in Russia: 'Vintage Joe Biden'

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White House argues benefits of prisoner exchange to free Americans outweighs risks

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday that freeing Americans from foreign custody is worth the risk of a prisoner exchange that could incentivize more wrongful detentions. 

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday gave President Biden full credit for the safe return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other Americans wrongfully detained in Russia. 

Sullivan took the podium at the daily White House press briefing after the Biden-Harris administration announced a massive swap of political prisoners between the United States and Russia. 

"Today's exchange is a feat of diplomacy that, honestly, could only be achieved by a leader like Joe Biden and his direction," Sullivan told reporters. 

Three American citizens — Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — were freed from Russian custody along with one American green-card holder, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and a dozen others. Sullivan shared that Biden had been "personally engaged" in diplomatic efforts to bring those Americans home, including multiple conversations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leaders of other countries who provided Russian prisoners for the exchange. 

BIDEN CALLS RUSSIA PRISONER SWAP DEAL THAT FREED WSJ'S GERSHKOVICH, WHELAN A ‘FEAT OF DIPLOMACY’

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 2024. The U.S. had been working on a deal that would have freed detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny when he died in Russian custody, the White House said Thursday. "We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny, and unfortunately, he died," Sullivan told journalists. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/ AFP) (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House confirmed that Biden had a phone call with the prime minster of Slovenia on Sunday, July 21, to make final arrangements for the deal to fall in place. 

"There is no more singular or concrete demonstration that the alliances that the president has reinvigorated around the world matter to Americans, to the individual safety of Americans, and to the collective security of Americans. And we're deeply grateful to our allies who supported us in these complex negotiations to achieve this outcome," Sullivan said. 

He added that Biden was reaching out to the leaders of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey as he spoke to thank them for their part in putting the deal together. 

"This was vintage Joe Biden, rallying American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters, and doing it with intricate statecraft, pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line," Sullivan said, noting the president maintained regular contact with the families of those detained as he worked for their release. 

LIVE UPDATES: PRISONER SWAP DEAL WITH RUSSIA

Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan, who were detained in Russia, pose with a U.S. flag as they celebrate their freedom in this undated handout photograph obtained on August 1, 2024.  (U.S. Government/Handout via REUTERS)

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, while reporting on a trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and was accused of espionage. The Biden administration declared him "wrongfully detained," and The Wall Street Journal and U.S. government both emphatically denied the charges, calling them absurd on their face. 

Whelan languished in Russian custody for years. A well-placed source told Fox News that Turkish intelligence officials played a key role in mediating the prisoner swap.  

"His goal has always been to put the families first, the families who are enduring an unimaginable ordeal," Sullivan said of Biden. 

"From the president on down, we've stayed in regular and routine touch with them. I spent a lot of time with the families of Evan and Paul and Alsu, and most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations. But not today," he said, becoming emotional. 

WSJ REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH RELEASED BY RUSSIA IN PRISONER SWAP; PAUL WHELAN ALSO BEING FREED

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were detained in Russia, during a brief event with some of their relatives in attendance, at the White House in Washington, August 1, 2024.  (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

"Today was a very good day, and we're going to build on it." 

As Sullivan spoke, former President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, demanding to know the details of the prisoner exchange.

Trump wrote: "How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash? Are they giving us cash (Please withdraw that question, because I’m sure the answer is NO)? Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs?"

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"Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps," the Republican nominee for president continued. "Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us! I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING – and never any cash. To do so is bad precedent for the future. That’s the way it should be, or this situation will get worse and worse. They are extorting the United States of America. They’re calling the trade ‘complex’ – That’s so nobody can figure out how bad it is!"

Sullivan told reporters that no money or sanctions relief was tied to the prisoner exchange.

He also addressed concerns that the prisoner exchange could incentivize U.S. adversaries to wrongfully detain more Americans, arguing that freeing innocents is worth the price.

"It is difficult to send back a convicted criminal to secure the release of an innocent American. And yet, sometimes the choice is between doing that and consigning that person basically to live out their days in prison in a hostile foreign country, or in the hands of a hostile power," Sullivan said. 

"So from our perspective, we have assessed and analyzed that risk, and we have judged that the benefit of reuniting Americans and bringing people home, and also of vindicating the idea that the American president and the American government are going to do what it takes to protect and secure the release of innocent Americans, that that benefit outweighs the risk."