Tonight, President Donald Trump will meet with Marc Fogel at the White House, marking the end of a harrowing three-year ordeal for the American schoolteacher who was detained in Russia. The meeting, set for 10 p.m. ET, comes after Fogel’s successful release was negotiated by Trump’s administration—a moment of relief for his family and supporters who fought tirelessly for his return.
Fogel, 63, was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison in 2021 after being caught with medical marijuana prescribed for chronic pain following multiple surgeries. A longtime educator, he had spent nearly three decades teaching overseas, including at the Anglo-American School of Moscow, where he instructed the children of American diplomats.
His arrest, widely seen as politically motivated, placed him at the center of U.S.-Russia tensions, as Moscow increasingly used detained Americans as bargaining chips in high-stakes diplomatic negotiations.
For Fogel’s family, his return is nothing short of a miracle. "Marc has taught American diplomats’ children for decades and made major contributions to this country," said Vicki Iseman, spokesperson for Free Marc Fogel. "He did not deserve to be detained for three years, and coming back with his head held high is something that he does deserve."
Fogel’s release was secured through the efforts of Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who personally flew him out of Russia on his private jet. While the specifics of the deal between the U.S. and Russia remain undisclosed, the exchange signals a rare moment of goodwill between Washington and Moscow.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz confirmed that the negotiation was also part of broader efforts to ease tensions and potentially advance discussions toward ending the war in Ukraine.
The Fogel family learned of his impending release last Thursday when he was moved from the Rybinsk penal colony to a detention center in the Yaroslavl region. The long-awaited news was a direct result of persistent advocacy, not just from his family but from key political allies, including Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), who repeatedly raised Fogel’s case in Senate hearings.
But perhaps the most poignant aspect of this story is the personal commitment Trump made to Fogel’s 95-year-old mother, Malphine. She met with Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, where she reminded him of her son’s plight. That moment was nearly overshadowed by the attempted assassination that took place at the event—Fogel was standing just 25 feet away from Trump when gunfire erupted.
Despite the chaos, Trump remembered his promise. "President Trump made a commitment to his mother, and he did what he said he would do," Iseman said. "He knew that telling a 95-year-old woman that he would bring her son home if elected was a promise he could not break, and he did not."