President-elect Trump spoke to reporters at Mar-a-Lago during meetings with tech moguls as he prepares for his second term.
Wife of American detained in Afghanistan heads to Mar-a-Lago to beg Trump to take up prisoner swap
by Morgan Phillips,Alexandra Koch,Alexis McAdams · Fox NewsEXCLUSIVE: The family of an American who has suffered two and a half years of wrongful detainment in Afghanistan told Fox News he is "praying and hoping" his wife, who has been standing outside of Mar-a-Lago in Florida this weekend, will get an opportunity to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.
Ryan Corbett was captured by the Taliban while in Afghanistan for business in August 2022, a year after the U.S. had pulled of the country.
After years of pleading for a meeting with President Biden, his wife, Anna, flew to Florida and spent the weekend standing outside of Mar-a-Lago. She posted videos and updates on social media in an attempt to get Trump's attention.
The family told Fox News they spoke with Ryan on Sunday and explained their efforts. They said he was "praying and hoping" that his wife gets the meeting.
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At some point during the day on Sunday, Biden finally gave them a call, a spokesperson confirmed.
Reports broke this week that the Biden administration was negotiating with the Taliban to swap three U.S. citizens being held in Afghanistan in exchange for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner alleged to have been a close associate of Usama bin Laden.
The deal seemingly stalled, as a senior Taliban official told The Guardian the group would rather wait to negotiate with the incoming Trump administration.
"I am absolutely desperate to fight for my family," Anna Corbett told Fox News Digital Friday during a layover on her last-minute flight to Mar-a-Lago.
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"Wouldn’t it be amazing if I got a meeting in one day, when, for 883 days, I tried to get a meeting with President Biden, and he didn’t have the time," she said.
The White House on Sunday confirmed Biden spoke with Corbett's family, along with the families of George Glezmann, and Mahmoud Habibi – who have also been unjustly held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2022.
"The President and the families discussed the U.S. Government’s continuing efforts to reunite these three Americans with their families," according to a statement. "The President emphasized his Administration’s commitment to the cause of bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas."
White House officials noted that over the last four years, Biden brought home more than 75 Americans unjustly detained around the world. All Americans detained before the United States’ military withdrawal in August 2021 have returned home, according to the White House.
"Globally, President Biden and his team have worked around the clock, often in partnership with key allies, to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage or unjustly detained abroad so that they can be reunited with their families, and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of the term," according to the statement.
Trump told Fox News’ Peter Doocy he would consider a prisoner swap, but seemed skeptical.
"I haven't looked at it," Trump said Thursday. "I have not been in favor of the trade, but I'll be taking a look tomorrow. We'll announce something tomorrow."
The talks, which have been ongoing since at least July 2024, involve exchanging suspected senior al Qaeda aide Muhammad Rahim al Afghani for U.S. citizens Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi, who were detained in Afghanistan in 2022.
Some Republicans in Congress privately voiced national security concerns over returning Rahim to the Taliban and questioned whether the negotiations resulted in a bad deal.
"Ryan is an amazing person, and he has done nothing wrong, and our family desperately needs him," Anna Corbett said, imploring the U.S. government to accept the deal. "He's a patriot. He was just trying to help the Afghan people, and this is a decision that the president needs to make. And we are just desperate for Ryan to come home alive as soon as possible."
Glezmann and Ryan Corbett have been declared by the State Department as wrongfully detained, and the Taliban denies holding Habibi.
Prior to the call on Sunday, Anna Corbett said she last spoke to her husband on Christmas Day for about 15 minutes.
"He was obviously trying hard to be in good spirits for Christmas for the kids and I," she said. "But it was a difficult call, obviously, because this has been going on so long.
"He asked me where things were at, if there was progress, and there really was nothing that I could share with him."
In 2024, two released American detainees revealed Ryan Corbett was severely malnourished, was experiencing blackouts and fainting, and was being held in a basement cell with almost no sunlight or exercise.
Anna Corbett said that since then, her husband has gained some weight, but still experiences constant headaches and ringing in his ears.
Ryan Corbett was abducted Aug. 10, 2022, after returning to Afghanistan, where he and his family lived during the collapse of the U.S.-backed government a year prior.
He arrived in Afghanistan on a valid 12-month visa to pay and train staff, as part of a business venture he led aimed at promoting Afghanistan's private sector through consulting services and lending.
Despite the detentions, the U.S. remains the largest financial supporter of Afghanistan, having offered the nation around $3 billion since the 2021 withdrawal.
The Taliban has long sought the release of Rahim, who has been held at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba since 2008, because the Pentagon believes he was a close associate of bin Laden.
In November 2023, the Guantánamo Bay prison review board cited Rahim’s work for senior al Qaeda members, and his participation in attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, as reasons to keep him in custody.
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Historically, Biden has been intent on closing the Guantánamo Bay prison. He announced on Monday the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees, including two former bodyguards of bin Laden, from Guantanamo to Oman, which has agreed to help resettle them.
Fox News' Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.