On September 5, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a sweeping executive order designed to crack down on the wrongful detention of American citizens by foreign governments and powerful non-state actors. The move, announced from the White House and hailed by both officials and advocacy groups, introduces a new designation: “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention.” With this label, the United States can now impose a wide range of penalties, including economic sanctions, visa restrictions, and travel bans, against countries and entities that are found to be holding Americans unjustly.
The executive order, issued under the authority of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, marks what Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as an “unprecedented action to impose new consequences on those who wrongfully detain Americans abroad,” as reported by BBC. The order is intended to serve as a powerful deterrent, signaling that the United States will not tolerate the use of its citizens as bargaining chips in international disputes or as pawns in political games.
“President Trump is committed to bringing every American that is wrongfully detained abroad home,” the order itself declared, as cited by SAN. It further emphasized that wrongful detention is not simply a diplomatic tactic, but a human rights abuse that violates international norms and endangers innocent lives.
The new measures give Secretary of State Rubio the authority to designate not only foreign governments but also any entity controlling significant territory—such as militant groups or de facto authorities—as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. Once designated, the Secretary is empowered to take a variety of actions. These include imposing sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, restricting export of certain goods, limiting foreign assistance, and barring travel to or through the offending country for U.S. passport holders. The approach is modeled after the state sponsor of terrorism designation, a label that has long carried severe repercussions for countries like Iran and North Korea.
Rubio made clear the seriousness of the new policy, stating, “Anyone who uses an American as a bargaining chip will pay the price.” He added, “No nation should want to end up on this list.” According to CNN, a senior administration official characterized the order as expanding the “toolbox” available to the United States to confront wrongful detentions, saying, “You don’t have to be funding Hamas, Hezbollah or al-Qaeda, you can simply be trying to exploit our citizens wrongfully.”
The White House explained that the designation can be terminated if the offending country releases the wrongfully detained Americans, demonstrates meaningful changes in leadership or policy, and provides credible assurances against future abuses. This conditional approach is designed to encourage positive change while maintaining pressure on those who continue to flout international norms.
Advocacy organizations welcomed the executive order as a significant step forward. The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation—named after the American journalist kidnapped and killed by ISIS—praised the move, stating, “This action marks a critical step forward in confronting a deeply entrenched practice that violates international norms and endangers innocent lives.” The foundation urged U.S. officials to use the new tools carefully, adhering to a “do no harm” approach and building on the administration’s track record of securing the release of Americans held captive around the world.
The scale of the problem is sobering. The Foley Foundation reported that at least 54 Americans were wrongfully detained in 17 countries during 2024, with wrongful detention accounting for a staggering 83% of Americans detained abroad that year. As of the order’s signing, at least 40 Americans remain held by 14 countries, often used as leverage in broader geopolitical disputes. The U.S. government itself does not publish official numbers, but advocacy groups have filled the gap with their own research and reporting.
The executive order lays out detailed criteria for designating a country or entity as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention. The Secretary of State may act if a wrongful detention occurs, if the government fails to release a wrongfully detained American after notification, or if there is evidence that the government is complicit in or materially supports such detentions. The order also covers patterns of unjust or unlawful detention of third-country nationals in cases where the United States has a national interest, using standards similar to those already applied by the State Department.
Once a country or group is designated, a range of responses may be implemented. These include sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, visa restrictions under immigration laws, prohibitions on the use of U.S. passports for travel to or through the designated country, limits on foreign assistance, and restrictions on exports under various federal laws. The order’s reach extends to non-state actors as well, applying to entities that control territory even if they are not recognized as legitimate governments.
The Trump administration’s record on securing the release of detained Americans was highlighted in the White House’s announcement. According to BBC, the president has secured the release of 72 American detainees, including high-profile cases such as Marc Fogel, an American teacher wrongfully imprisoned in Russia, and George Glezmann, who was held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for more than two years. These successes, the administration argues, demonstrate the effectiveness of a tough, multi-pronged approach to wrongful detention.
The executive order also builds on earlier legislative efforts, such as the Robert Levinson Act, which empowers the State Department to determine whether an American is being wrongfully detained based on factors like the fairness of the country’s judicial system or evidence that the detention is being used to extract concessions from Washington. The new order provides a more robust framework for responding when those determinations are made.
While the administration has not indicated when it will first use the new designation, officials say countries will be notified if they are under consideration and given a window to “fix it”—that is, to release wrongfully detained Americans and address problematic policies. This, they hope, will encourage dialogue and reform before harsher penalties are imposed.
Notably, the order is careful to specify that not every American detained in a designated country will automatically be deemed wrongfully detained. Most arrests of U.S. nationals abroad, the State Department says, follow legitimate law enforcement or judicial processes. The new designation is reserved for cases where there is clear evidence of injustice, political motivation, or abuse of process.
As the United States grapples with the growing use of hostage diplomacy and wrongful detention by foreign adversaries, the executive order signed by President Trump signals a renewed commitment to defending its citizens and upholding international norms. Whether these new tools will succeed in deterring future abuses remains to be seen, but for now, the administration and advocacy groups alike see the move as a crucial step in a long-running fight for justice and the safe return of Americans held abroad.
