Trump Says U.S. Did Not Pay North Korea’s $2 Million Medical Bill For Otto Warmbier
President Donald Trump has denied that his administration paid any money as part of a deal to get imprisoned college student, Otto Warmbier, back from North Korea.
Warmbier was imprisoned back in 2017 while on a trip to North Korea where he was sentenced to hard labor for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster. He spent months in prison only to be returned to the United States in a comatose state.
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North Korea had issued a $2 million bill to the U.S. for the medical care of Warmbier, who was returned to the U.S. in an unconscious state.
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Trump responded that he and his administration did not and will not pay North Korea.
No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2019
“President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.” Cheif Hostage Negotiator, USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2019
The tweets came in response to a Washington Post report on Thursday. In the report it said that North Korea demanded that a U.S. official had to sign a pledge to pay for Warmbier’s medical expenses before he would be returned to the United States.
The report says State Department official Joseph Yun was sent to North Korea in 2017 to retrieve Warmbier and was instructed to sign the bill. The bill went unpaid for the remainder of the year and it’s unclear if it was paid later.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday, “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”
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