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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday establishing a new “state sponsor of wrongful detention” designation, a move aimed at punishing countries that illegally detain Americans abroad.
The order grants Secretary of State Marco Rubio authority to impose sanctions, visa restrictions, and other penalties against governments deemed to be exploiting U.S. citizens as hostages or bargaining tools.
“We are drawing a very clear delineation today, a line in the sand,” a senior administration official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “You will not use Americans as bargaining chips.”
The Trump administration did not say how quickly sanctions might follow, or which countries are under immediate review. According to the Foley Foundation’s 2024 annual report, at least 54 Americans are wrongfully detained or held hostage in 17 countries, including Iran, China, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.
Survivors welcome move but urge more
Paul Whelan, a former Marine who spent more than five years imprisoned in Russia before being released in 2024, said the executive order is a positive step if it is enforced against “rogue regimes such as China and Russia.”
“This is a good start,” Whelan said in an interview with NBC News. “But we also need to ensure hostages are cared for properly once they’re home. The government could do much better in that regard, and seized assets from these regimes should be used for victim compensation.”
Building on Biden-era efforts
The new order echoes a similar measure issued by President Joe Biden in 2022, which declared the wrongful detention of Americans abroad a national emergency and allowed sanctions or visa bans against individuals tied to hostage-taking. At the time, the State Department also added a “D” risk indicator on its travel advisories to warn U.S. citizens about countries engaged in wrongful detentions.
Trump’s order goes further by explicitly allowing penalties on governments that aid or tolerate non-state actors — such as militant groups or terrorist organizations — that hold Americans captive.
“It’s a widening of the aperture against whom we can use those tools,” a second administration official said. “You don’t have to be funding Hamas, Hezbollah, or al-Qaeda. You can simply be trying to exploit our citizens wrongfully.”
Considering travel restrictions
The administration is also weighing restrictions on U.S. passport holders traveling to certain high-risk nations. Trump previously used similar authority in 2017, when Americans were banned from traveling to North Korea following the death of U.S. student Otto Warmbier.
“Everything changes with regard to rogue regimes and those who think Americans can be treated as pawns,” the first official said.
