Trump punishes countries that unfairly detain American citizens

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to punish countries that illegally detain American citizens.

The order would allow the State Council to impose sanctions or take other measures by creating a “state sponsor for illegal detention” designation.

The White House said the order aims to “protect U.S. nationals from illegal detention abroad by authorizing strong responses to foreign governments engaged in such practices.”

The U.S. government has not announced the number of Americans detained abroad. Advocacy group Foley Foundation pointed out that in 2024, at least 54 Americans were wrongly detained in 17 countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the signing of “unprecedented actions have new consequences for those who mistakenly detained Americans abroad.”

Rubio said the title could lead to penalties, including such as economic sanctions and restrictions on visas, foreign aid and travel to U.S. passport holders.

He added that the new name was modeled by state sponsors classified by terrorism, so “no country wants to end up on this list.”

“Anyone who uses Americans as bargaining chips will pay the price,” he said.

The White House said the order also applies to non-state actors who “control important territories” even if they are not recognized as government.

There is no indication when the Trump administration will take action against the criminal state.

The State Department pointed out that in legal law enforcement incidents or judicial proceedings, most nationals detain or arrested from the United States National.

The White House said the president has released 72 U.S. detainees.

These include Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was wrongly detained in a Russian prison and George Glezmann, who was held in Afghanistan by the Taliban, for more than two years.

The Foley Foundation aims to respect James Foley, a journalist who was kidnapped and killed by ISIS, whose 2024 report said that 83% of Americans in illegal detention are detained abroad.

During Trump’s first term, Congress passed the Robert Levinson Act, which states that the State Department can determine whether Americans are being wrongly detained based on several criteria, such as the fairness of the country’s judicial system, or to take their holders hostages to withdraw concessions from the Washington DC.