Anna Corbett, the wife of American hostage Ryan Corbett, says she doesn’t believe President Joe Biden will take her husband home in his final days in office, according to the Daily Caller. said in an interview.
The White House said on Sunday that Biden called the families of Ryan Corbett, George Glezman and Mahmoud Habibie, Americans held by the Taliban since 2022, and said, “I would like to express my gratitude to these three Americans for their families.” They also discussed the government’s continued efforts to reunite them. Ryan Corbett’s wife, Anna Corbett, told the caller that even though she had visited Washington D.C. 16 times, she and the president had not spoken in the nearly two and a half years since her husband was taken hostage. said this call was his first. During the 30-minute phone call, Mr. Biden indicated that they could not reach a deal and therefore Mr. Ryan would not return home in the final days of his administration, Mr. Anna told the Caller.
“He gave us about 30 minutes on the phone. He was very nice, but basically said he wasn’t taking Ryan home. He was very upset to hear that he had come this far. It was disappointing,” Anna told a reporter by phone. .
“The administration seems obsessed with Afghanistan and there’s an agreement on the table. I don’t know the details, but it seems like there’s a way to bring Ryan home, but it hasn’t been done. So it’s disappointing. It just makes it bigger,” Anna told the caller.
The White House National Security Council referred callers to the announcement on the phone when asked whether the president had told families he could not bring their loved ones home. The readout of the call added that Biden “underscored his administration’s commitment to the cause of bringing home Americans held hostage and unjustly detained overseas.”
“I’ve traveled to Washington D.C. 16 times and been illegally detained for 885 days. It was really hard to get to this point, and it was really hard to hear,” Anna told Caller of her conversation with Biden. spoke.
““I was hoping we could meet in person, but that would have been easier and better, and it’s really disappointing that it’s just a phone call,” she added.
Your day at Mar-a-Lago is over. Even though Anna and Qetsia weren’t able to meet with President Trump today, we still have hope. Thank you for following us. @RealDonaldTrump. Please share! We have to bring Ryan home! #freeryancorbett pic.twitter.com/a33nzrBK5U
— Free Ryan Corbett (@freeryancorbett) January 11, 2025
On Friday, Anna Corbett dropped everything, packed her bags and voluntarily flew to Palm Beach to meet with President-elect Donald Trump. Trump had said 12 hours earlier that he would be briefed on reports that the Biden administration was considering a deal with Americans being held hostage by the Taliban. This comment gave Anna hope, and as of this article, she remains in Palm Beach seeking a meeting with the president-elect. (Related: Exclusive: ‘Trump is a dealmaker’: American hostage Ryan Corbett’s wife explains why she flew to Mar-a-Lago)
Anna told the Caller that progress has been made since arriving in Palm Beach and that she has had positive interactions with the Trump campaign since her visit. Anna’s New York Republican congresswoman, Claudia Tenney, is also “very committed” to her trip and efforts to bring Corbett home, Anna told the Caller.
“I’m grateful that it seems like our family is being prioritized above all else.” I’ve been through this for about two and a half years,” Anna told the caller.
Ryan Corbett, a US citizen from upstate New York, and his family lived in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2021, a source said. Website I focused on bringing him home. While in Afghanistan, Mr Corbett ran a local NGO before starting a micro-lending and consulting business in the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris answer questions about the ongoing evacuation of American citizens and vulnerable Afghans by U.S. forces in the East Room of the White House on August 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by ANDREW) Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
After the Taliban took over the country, Corbett and his family fled, but he eventually returned to get his business visa renewed and made the decision to visit his staff in January 2022. This was my second visit in August 2022 using a business visa. Corbett was captured by the Taliban.
With about a week left in the Biden administration, the president’s team has been in talks with the Taliban about an agreement to bring back Americans from at least July, and in November, the Taliban sent three U.S. soldiers in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani. I suggested that the person be released. The man is an Afghan national who the U.S. government says was a senior al-Qaeda aide, officials told the Journal.
The Taliban responded to the Biden administration’s proposed deal on the same day it was presented, according to the WSJ. In response, the Taliban offered to accept Rahim and two others in place of Glezman and Corbett, but National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in December that Biden He said he has not yet decided on an agreement.
Anna talked to Ryan this morning and told him she was at Mar-a-Lago hoping to meet her. @realDonaldTrump #freeryancorbett pic.twitter.com/CYRTjfYc6I
— Free Ryan Corbett (@freeryancorbett) January 12, 2025
Anna revealed on X/Twitter that she spoke with her husband on Sunday and expressed optimism for his release since collapsing in Palm Beach. Anna told the caller that the current administration and the Qataris scheduled regular 10- to 15-minute phone conversations with her husband. The last time she spoke to him was Christmas Day.
“We feel a big gap without Ryan in our family, and it’s not easy at all. Maybe people think, ‘We live as four people and Ryan isn’t a part of that.’ You might think every day would be easier, but it’s actually more difficult, because we miss him so much and we’re all thinking about him at that time. ” Anna told the caller.
