Former hostage thanks Trump upon release after years of detention in Kuwait
Defense contractor Tony Holden was arrested on fabricated drug charges in 2022
Rachel Wolf | May 1, 2025 | 11:45am EDTTony Holden, an American defense contractor, is thanking President Donald Trump after gaining his freedom from detention in Kuwait. In a video in which Holden was surrounded by loved ones, he expressed his gratitude to the president.
"I wanted you to be able to meditate on how you’ve affected, personally, lives and the difference that you’ve made," a visibly emotional Holden said. He called the team behind the efforts to bring him home "instruments" of God.
Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's top envoy for hostage affairs, left, greets military contractor Tony Holden, who was
recently released from Kuwait, at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Virginia, on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.
(U.S. State Dept. via AP)In November 2022, Holden was arrested while working at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait, under Vectrus, a U.S.-based company. Holden’s family described the ordeal on a website dedicated to securing his release.
According to his family, the men who arrested Holden "became violent so quickly that Tony thought he was being kidnapped." They then forced him to lead them to his apartment on base where they searched for "drugs." However, Holden’s family and supporters said he abstains from drugs and alcohol for religious reasons. Once the men realized Holden had a wife and daughter, they forced him to take them to where his family lived off base. The men reportedly beat Holden multiple times . . .
https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-hostage-thanks-trump-upon-release-after-years-detention-kuwait
