‘Living in a dream world:’ Marc Fogel meets with President Trump following Russian detainment release
Updated: 11:37 PM EST Feb 11, 2025
He’s become *** very famous guy. He’s *** very happy guy tonight, so it’s it’s just *** real honor, an honor to have you at the White House. I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now. And uh I want you to know that I am not *** hero in this at all. And President Trump is *** hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes. The senators and representatives that passed legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes. Uh, I’m in awe of what they all did. Uh, my family has been *** force. I think my 95 year old mother is probably The most dynamic 95 year old on earth right now. And uh I am so indebted to so many people. I, I think I remember *** *** Churchill quote that he said when the RAF was fighting the Luftwaffe and he said that uh never have so many owed so much. To so few and I put myself fortunately and unfortunately into that category and I said never has one owed so much to so many that this super organism of people that came to my support. And the love that I was given. Sustain sustained me for 3.5 years in *** prison that had me in hospitals for more than 100 days. I was given more than 400 injections in that time and knowing I had the support of my fellow Pennsylvanians, my family, my friends. Uh, it was so overwhelming that, uh, Uh, it brought me to my knees and it brought me to tears, but it was, uh, it was my energy, it was my Being that that kept me going that whole time and I will forever be indebted. President Trump. To Steve over there, what *** dynamic man this guy is. When I met him, uh, the energy, the can-do attitude just. Exudes from his body and when he smiled at me and introduced me and I got the feel for what has happened. You know, it’s not just me, it’s, it’s everybody. And, and Secretary Rubio, who met my son *** while back. Uh, I, I, I’m. I’m *** middle class school teacher who’s now. Mm And uh *** dream world We’re gonna show you the Lincoln bedroom in *** little while. It’s *** very special, special place appropriate for today, very appropriate. And um Thank you all and I love our country. And I’m so happy to be back here. And I wish I could articulate it better. You’ve done beautifully and uh he’s got *** great mother, and when I saw the mother at *** rally, she said, would you, if you win, will you get my son out? And I promise she’s 95 years old. And I said, we’ll get him out and we, we got him out pretty quickly. She told me that that exact that exact words she made quite an impression, and you also did and uh I’m, I’m in awe of what you. And your team, it’s great to have you back and have *** great life. Well, I don’t want to say that. I just want to say that I appreciate very much what they did and letting Mark go home. And I appreciate Steve Witkoff, the job he did in Marco behind the scenes was unbelievable. And so many of these people were unbelievable. They, they represent him. They’re from his area, uh, and, uh, we, we just wanted to get him back home. I, I had to get him back home because I would have big trouble with his mother and, and we’re gonna take him for *** little tour of the Lincoln bedroom which nobody gets to see. And it’s very special. Do you want to see it? I would love to, and I, I also should make mention that that President Putin was very generous and statesmanlike in granting me uh uh *** pardon. I, I mean. What were the terms of this deal, Mr. President? Very fair, very, very fair, very reasonable, not like deals you’ve seen over the years. Uh, they were very fair. And I think that’s gonna lead and we’re somebody else is being released tomorrow that you will know of, but we wanted to get this done very important, and Steve wanted to actually fly over and get Mark and get him home properly because it could be *** pretty tough trip. So is this the beginning of *** deal, I think there’s goodwill in terms of the war, you know, 1.5 million soldiers, young people have been killed. I’ve met many of them. Yeah, and it’s uh it’s *** terrible thing going on so we want to get that done. I think, I think this could be the very important element. You could be *** big part of it actually because it could be *** big important part of getting the war over with Ukraine. And we appreciate President Putin’s, uh, what he, what he did. He was, uh, able to pull it off for you, right? He was able to pull it off we, we think, and you’re here, I’m here, so it was great. Uh, we’ll tell you *** little bit more about it tomorrow, but I think we’ve made great progress, progress on the war also getting the war. I want to get the war ended that war should not have been. It would have never happened if I was president. It would not have happened. And it did happen and now you have all blown up cities and dead people, uh, so many dead people should have never ever happened and, uh, you could be *** big catalyst for Just this evening it’s *** very important evening for ending that war, and I think they all want to see it ended. How does it change your perspective on Putin and I don’t want to get into that. I only can say this, we got *** man home whose mother and family wanted him desperately, whose state wanted him. He’s, he’s become *** big symbol. And uh it’s an honor to have played *** small role in that and I just uh I wanna tell you these people, they, they all played *** role and we got him home and he’s he’s healthy. It looks good actually to me you look damn good I’ll tell you that. I think we’ll expect. that helps *** little bit, you know, I think I need *** little bit of time to sort of digest all of that. There were times when It was extremely trying, there were times when I could manage it, but I, I think I need some more time to. You know, it wasn’t, it wasn’t easy, right? It wasn’t easy. Every second, every minute, every day had *** challenge. But you’re, but you’re in good shape and we compare that to what we saw two days ago come home. They were very, very ill. Those people are very ill. They were treated really badly. Mr. President, your predecessor left you almost $4 billion in unused, uh, aid for Ukraine to Ukraine. Are you gonna use those money? Are you, but my predecessor should have had this gentleman out *** long time ago. You know, we did it in 2.5 weeks. He’s, he had 4 years to do it. He should have had Mark out *** lot earlier. It’s, uh, it’s *** shame. It’s *** shame. It was very, should have never had the war to start off with. Should have never had that war would have never happened to president, but he should have had him back 3.5 years ago, so it was, it was too bad, but he didn’t do it, but we did it. Thank you all very much. Thank you very much.
‘Living in a dream world:’ Marc Fogel meets with President Trump following Russian detainment release
Updated: 11:37 PM EST Feb 11, 2025
Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel is now back on American soil more than three years after he was arrested and detained in Russia back in 2021.United States officials confirmed Fogel landed at Joint Base Andrews near Washington D.C. just before 10 p.m. Tuesday night. President Donald Trump met with Fogel at the White House following his arrival back to the United States. During a press conference, Fogel thanked Trump and additional congressional members for their help in getting him home. FULL VIDEO ABOVE: President Trump welcomes & greets Marc Fogel back to the U.S. “I’m a middle-class schoolteacher who’s now living in a dream world,” Fogel said. “I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service and the senators and representatives that passed legislation to get me home are the heroes.” Fogel also thanked his 95-year-old mother and Pennsylvanians for their advocacy and support over the last three and a half years. “Knowing I had the support of my fellow Pennsylvanians, family, and friends, it was so overwhelming that it brought me to my knees and tears. It was my energy, my being, that kept me going that whole time. I will forever be indebted to all.” President Trump told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “fair” in negotiations in pardoning Fogel, further stating another person held in Russia will be released within the coming hours. “Somebody else is being released tomorrow that you know of, but we wanted to focus on getting Marc home,” Trump said.When asked if this could be the start of a deal between the United States and Russia, Trump said, in part, “I think there’s good will in terms of the war, I think this could be a very big element, and I think Marc could be a part of it.” Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony in 2022 for drug trafficking after he was arrested for possessing medical marijuana, which was prescribed by a doctor in the United States. Nearly three years after his detainment, he was declared “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government in Dec. 2024.Following his arrest, his mother, Malphine Fogel, urged government officials to bring her son home. “He’s not a criminal,” Malphine Fogel said during an earlier interview with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “He is a dedicated teacher. He was always a good son, a good husband, a wonderful father. He needs to come home.” Now, Fogel is expected to be reunited with his family by the end of the day, the Associated Press reported. “He just said, ‘I’m in the Moscow airport’ — he usually calls from the prison — and I said, ‘What are you doing there?’ And he said, ‘I’m waiting for a plane to take me to Washington, D.C.,’ which is unbelievable,” Malphine Fogel told WTAE hours following the news of his release. President Trump said Fogel will now get a full tour of the White House.
WASHINGTON —Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel is now back on American soil more than three years after he was arrested and detained in Russia back in 2021.
United States officials confirmed Fogel landed at Joint Base Andrews near Washington D.C. just before 10 p.m. Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump met with Fogel at the White House following his arrival back to the United States. During a press conference, Fogel thanked Trump and additional congressional members for their help in getting him home.
FULL VIDEO ABOVE: President Trump welcomes & greets Marc Fogel back to the U.S.
“I’m a middle-class schoolteacher who’s now living in a dream world,” Fogel said. “I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service and the senators and representatives that passed legislation to get me home are the heroes.”
Fogel also thanked his 95-year-old mother and Pennsylvanians for their advocacy and support over the last three and a half years.
“Knowing I had the support of my fellow Pennsylvanians, family, and friends, it was so overwhelming that it brought me to my knees and tears. It was my energy, my being, that kept me going that whole time. I will forever be indebted to all.”
President Trump told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “fair” in negotiations in pardoning Fogel, further stating another person held in Russia will be released within the coming hours.
“Somebody else is being released tomorrow that you know of, but we wanted to focus on getting Marc home,” Trump said.
When asked if this could be the start of a deal between the United States and Russia, Trump said, in part, “I think there’s good will in terms of the war, I think this could be a very big element, and I think Marc could be a part of it.”
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony in 2022 for drug trafficking after he was arrested for possessing medical marijuana, which was prescribed by a doctor in the United States.
Nearly three years after his detainment, he was declared “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. government in Dec. 2024.
Following his arrest, his mother, Malphine Fogel, urged government officials to bring her son home.
“He’s not a criminal,” Malphine Fogel said during an earlier interview with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “He is a dedicated teacher. He was always a good son, a good husband, a wonderful father. He needs to come home.”
Now, Fogel is expected to be reunited with his family by the end of the day, the Associated Press reported.
“He just said, ‘I’m in the Moscow airport’ — he usually calls from the prison — and I said, ‘What are you doing there?’ And he said, ‘I’m waiting for a plane to take me to Washington, D.C.,’ which is unbelievable,” Malphine Fogel told WTAE hours following the news of his release.
President Trump said Fogel will now get a full tour of the White House.
