President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that allows the Secretary of State to designate foreign countries as a “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention” and punish their governments if they are deemed to be wrongfully holding Americans. As part of the order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is directed to sanction, put export control and restrict travel from these countries, along with other actions.
Should the foreign country release a wrongfully detained United States national, and demonstrate changes in leadership and policies, Rubio could terminate its designation.
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“President Trump is committed to bringing every American that is wrongfully detained abroad home,” the order said.
The order doesn’t just apply to countries, but any “entities controlling significant territory, even if not recognized as governments.”
Reaction to the order
CNN reported that a senior administration official said countries would be notified if they could get a wrongful detention designation, “and they will have a certain pool of time to fix it.” The official described the order as giving the Trump administration a “toolbox” of measures to take against these nations.
“It’s a widening of the aperture against whom we can use those tools,” the official said, according to CNN. “You don’t have to be funding Hamas, Hezbollah or al-Qaeda, you can simply be trying to exploit our citizens wrongfully.”
In a statement, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, named after the American journalist who was kidnapped and then killed by ISIS while reporting in Syria, praised the order.
“This action marks a critical step forward in confronting a deeply entrenched practice that violates international norms and endangers innocent lives,” the statement said. “Wrongful detention is not a diplomatic tactic — it is a human rights abuse.”
The foundation’s statement urged U.S. officials to “adhere to a ‘do no harm’ approach — applying these tools with care to build on its strong track record of securing the release of Americans held captive around the world.”
According to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, at least 54 Americans were held hostage or wrongfully in 17 countries during 2024. Currently, the foundation assesses that at least 40 Americans are being held by 14 countries “for use as leverage in geopolitical disputes.”
