Trump’s Envoy for Hostage Affairs Urges Syrian Rebels to Free American

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Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler calls on Syrian opposition to release American captives to prove they’re not extremists.

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for special envoy for hostage affairs said Monday that Syrian opposition forces that have taken control of the Middle Eastern country should turn over any American hostages held there as a sign of goodwill and to signal that Syria under their rule is a “real country” rather than a failed state run by Islamic extremists.

Adam Boehler, who was selected by Trump on Dec. 4, was asked during a Dec. 9 appearance on Fox News’s Fox & Friends for his thoughts about multiple Americans believed to be held hostage in Syria, including journalist Austin Tice, who went missing 12 years ago.

“I think now is the time to get our hostages. Hope is there,“ Boehler said. ”And I think to the rebels: if they want to say they are a real country, that they are not Islamic extremists, then they should turn over our people. They should find them and turn them over, and it would be a very strong gesture of friendship to the United States.”

It’s unclear how many Americans are being held hostage in Syria, with Syrian authorities under Assad having publicly denied holding any Americans in captivity. Boehler said there are “four or five more” in addition to Tice, who was abducted in 2012.

The overthrow of Assad’s regime appears to have created new opportunities for hostage recovery efforts, with President Joe Biden’s envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, traveling to Beirut, Lebanon, to seek information on Tice and, potentially, other missing Americans.

Tice is believed to be alive, but his whereabouts are unknown, according to Biden, who told a press briefing on Dec. 8 that “we think we can get him back.”

A former U.S. Marine and freelance journalist from Houston, Tice was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting on a rebellion against Assad. About a month after his capture, Tice’s family received a short video titled “Austin Tice is Alive,” featuring him and a group of armed men. Tice has not been heard from since.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC’s Good Morning America on Dec. 9 that finding Tice and bringing him home is a “top priority” for the administration. Sullivan added that the U.S. government is communicating through Turkish intermediaries and contacts on the ground in Syria to locate Tice and set him free.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a press briefing on Dec. 9 that “intensive efforts” are underway to locate Tice and reunite him with his family. He encouraged anyone with information as to his whereabouts to contact the FBI immediately. The State Department-affiliated Rewards for Justice program on Monday announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the location and recovery of Tice.

In his appearance on Fox & Friends, the incoming administration’s hostage envoy said that, in light of the instability caused by the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, ramping up efforts to secure the release of any American hostages should be a top priority.

“The most important thing we should be thinking about right now is whether we can get Americans home,” Boehler said.

“There is an American that’s there. In fact, there are four or five more,” he said, adding that this information is “somewhat classified.”

Majd Kamalmaz, an American psychotherapist, was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus in February 2017. In May 2024, U.S. officials informed his family of credible intelligence suggesting he had died in captivity. However, the exact circumstances of his detention and likely death remain unclear.

Several other Americans have been held hostage in Syria over the years, including journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Kayla Mueller, all of whom were killed by ISIS terrorists.