Marc Fogel meets Trump at the White House after being released from Russia: ‘The president and the diplomats are heroes’

Schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been held prisoner in Russia since 2021, met with President Donald Trump at the White House, along with the diplomats who made the arrangements to bring him home, in an emotional moment late Tuesday.

Fogel, who was carrying a drink in his hand and wearing the American flag around his neck, asserted that both Trump and all U.S. diplomatic personnel are heroes.

"I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now, and I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all," Fogel said. "President Trump is a hero. These men who came from the diplomatic service are heroes. The senators and representatives who passed legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes. I am in awe of what they all did."

Fogel also thanked his 95-year-old mother, who was supporting him throughout his imprisonment, tirelessly seeking help to get her son back home.

"My family has been—of course, I think my 95-year-old mother is probably the most dynamic 95-year-old on earth right now—and I am so indebted to so many people," Fogel said, visibly moved. "I think I remember a Churchill quote from when the RAF was fighting the Luftwaffe. He said, 'Never have so many owed so much to so few.' I put myself, fortunately and unfortunately, into that category, and I said, 'Never has one owed so much to so many.'"

The teacher also gave details about his days in Russian prisons, highlighting the work of U.S. officials who gave him the strength not to give up.

"This superorganism of people that came to my support, and the love that I was given, sustained me for three and a half years in a prison that had me in hospitals for more than 100 days. I was given more than 400 injections in that time. Knowing I had the support of my fellow Pennsylvanians, my family, and my friends was so overwhelming—it brought me to my knees and to tears. But it was my energy, my being, that kept me going the whole time," said Fogel, who was watched intently by President Trump, his cabinet, members of Congress and also reporters in the room.

Fogel also particularly thanked the work of Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who Trump said did an important behind-the-scenes work.

"I appreciate very much what they did in letting Mark go home. I also appreciate Steve Whitcock; the job he did with Marco behind the scenes was unbelievable. So many of these people were unbelievable. They represent him," said Trump, who then joked about the strength of Fogel's mother. "We just wanted to get him back home. I had to get him back home, because I would have had big trouble with his mother."

"He's got a great mother, and when I saw her at a rally, she said, 'Hey, you win. Will you get my son out?' I thought, well, she's 95 years old. And I told her, 'We'll get him out.' She said that to me, and it worked. She made quite an impression," Trump stated.

The president also mentioned that this agreement represents a positive step toward ending the war between Russia and Ukraine and thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the good gesture.

He said: "I think we've made great progress on the war also. I want to get the war ended. The war should not have been."