American defense contractor Tony Holden is grateful to President Donald Trump after gaining freedom from detention in Kuwait. In a video where Holden was surrounded by his loved ones, he expressed his gratitude to the president.
“I wanted you to personally be able to meditate on how you influenced the differences you made,” said the visibly emotional Holden. He called the team behind his efforts to bring God's “instruments” home.
Adam Berler, the Trump administration's top envoy on hostage issues, will greet military contractor Tony Holden, who was recently released from Kuwait at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (US State Department via AP)
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In November 2022, Holden was arrested while working at Camp Arifjan, a US Army base in Kuwait under the US-based company Vectrus. Holden's family explained the ordeal A website dedicated to securing his release.
According to his family, the man who arrested Holden was “a violent and violent man who thought Tony was being invited.” They then force him to lead them to his apartment at the base where they had searched for “drugs.” However, Holden's family and supporters said they refrained from drugs and alcohol for religious reasons. When the man realizes that he has a wife and daughter in Holden, they force his family to take him from base to where his family lived. The man was reportedly arrested multiple times during the incident.
Tony Holden is standing with his loved ones as he thanks President Trump for securing his release from Kuwait prison. (@sebgorka/x)
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After searching for the second off-base apartment and unable to find drugs, the man took Holden to the desert in the middle of the night with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. The man “physically threatened” his wife and daughter, according to Holden's family. The family said Holden was later “forced to sign a confession written in Arabic to protect his family.” They then conducted drug tests in Holden, which returned to the negative, but the defense contractor was still accused of possessing drugs, drug trafficking and trying to escape the country. His family said Holden was not given legal representation.
The judges at Holden trial eventually realized that the case was false because the officer presented the conversation that had been created between him and Holden in English, despite the fact that he did not speak the language. Despite this, Holden was sentenced to five years in prison, and he remained after an internal police investigation discovered that his confession was being forced, according to his family.
Holden spent 903 days in Kuwait detention before being released on Wednesday, April 30th.
President Donald Trump will return Mark Vogel to United after being released from Russian custody at the White House on February 11, 2025. (Get McNamee/Getty Images)
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In his first 100 days of his inauguration, Trump secured the release of dozens of Americans who are hostages around the world, including Keith Siegel, who was taken hostage in Hamas on October 7th, and Mark Vogel, an American teacher who was taken prisoner in Russia. Siegel and Vogel thanked Trump for securing their own releases. Vogel and his mother were guests in Trump's speech in a joint session of Congress in early March.
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Fox News Digital contacted the State Department to comment on the report, but did not get an answer in time for publication.
