Trump: Why I Refused To Pay Ransom To Free Our Hostage In Nigeria

Trump has explained why his government refused to pay the more than $1 million ransom demanded to free its citizen who was kidnapped in Niger Republic and held in Nigeria.

He said, “once you pay, you’ll have many many more” to pay, adding that members of the elite Seal Team 6 – which rescued the hostage – “are the best fighters in the world”.

“They kidnapped this young American in a faraway land,” Trump said at a campaign rally Saturday in Newton, Pennsylvania. “They [Seal Team 6] said they wanted to do it [rescue the hostage]. They went in there, they went in there by night. And, it was over very quickly.”

He said, “And, we didn’t have anybody even injured slightly. We got the hostages, and unfortunately they [captors] are gone”.

The 74-year-old stated that “we got our young man back, but the other side suffered gravely, I can tell you that”.

Adding, “We’ve gotten many hostages home. And I pay nothing, nothing. Can’t pay. Once you pay, you’ll have many many more”.

The hostage, Philip Nathan Walton, 27, was kidnapped from his farm in Massalata in southern Niger early Tuesday morning by armed kidnappers who demanded a ransom from the man’s father.

He had been living with his wife and child for two years, his father told AFP news agency.

SEAL Team 6, along with other members of a joint special operations force, conducted the rescue which lasted for several hours.

No US troops were harmed in the rescue, and the New York Times reports that all but one of the kidnappers were killed.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that the rescue by “some of our bravest and most skilled warriors” underscores the US commitment “to the safe return of all US citizens taken captive”.