Trump hints at dramatic rescue of American woman held and tortured abroad

Describing unnamed woman’s experience, president said ‘whatever the maximum word is other than death, that happened’

At a press briefing on the coronavirus epidemic, Donald Trump described in oblique terms a military operation that rescued an unidentified American woman from an unnamed country where she was being treated “horribly”.

Mr Trump first recounted how the US was “working very hard, long” with the Peruvian and Honduran governments to bring home Americans who have “gotten caught up”. He then alluded to the hitherto unknown rescue mission, apparently overseen by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.

“We have a couple of other locations that we’ll report to you on. We were able to get a young woman released from a certain area who was being horribly accosted, horribly treated, and we spoke to General Milley, General Milley took care of it.

“We went in, and we got her out. And we’ll report further on that one. But it’s – that was rough stuff.

“I want to thank General Milley, I want to thank all of the people that were involved and the people that went in to get her. I want to thank you very much.”

The “area” to which Mr Trump was referring has not yet been specified, and nor have the nature and timing of the operation. It is also unclear when the woman was captured, and whether her detention had any connection with the coronavirus pandemic.

Other Americans too are unable to leave various countries that have implemented travel restrictions to slow the pandemic’s spread. Among them are many students studying abroad, thought to number well into the thousands.

Asked for more details on the mysterious rescue operation later in the briefing, Mr Trump declined to provide them. “We’re really under the feeling that we should keep it somewhat private until – she’s already been freed.”

The president also showered praise on Milley, whom he credited with leading the operation. “I have to tell you, General Milley and his people were unbelievable. They were not playing games. General Milley does not play games. He’s a very interesting guy.

“They got her out, they got her out of a certain country where she was seriously abused, accosted, and whatever the maximum word is other than death, that happened.

“But we got her out, and she’s okay, and she’s back with her parents.

Mr Trump has a longstanding affection for generals going back at least to his 2016 campaign. Speaking in 2019, he described a meeting at the Pentagon where he met “lots of generals. They were like from a movie. Better-looking than Tom Cruise, and stronger.”

He appointed General Jim Mattis as his first secretary of defence, General John Kelly as his second chief of staff, and the now-disgraced General Mike Flynn as his National Security Adviser, to be succeeded by General H.R. McMaster. All four men have now left his administration.