Trump Meets with Freed American Pastor Andrew Brunson

• 10.14.2018, 09:02
•  Region,  World

Freed American pastor Andrew Brunson met and prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Saturday, thanking him for having "really fought for us" -- a day after his release from house arrest in Turkey, Fox News reports.

Brunson, from North Carolina, arrived in the U.S. earlier Saturday after stopping in Germany on Friday. Brunson was imprisoned in October 2016 due to his alleged ties to an outlawed group as part of a crackdown on a failed coup in Turkey against President Recep Erdogan’s government. A Turkish judge on Friday ordered him freed from house arrest on Friday after sentencing him to time served on terror and treason charges.

Brunson thanked Trump in the Oval Office, saying "you really fought for us, unusually so, from the time you took office." He also thanked members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who had worked for his release.

"We're so grateful to so many people in Congress who stood with us, who prayed for us, who fought for us," he said.

In a dramatic moment, Brunson knelt down and prayed with the President -- asking God for "supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him."

In his remarks, Trump said it was a "great honor" to have Brunson in the White House and thanked a number of lawmakers and members of the Cabinet for their assistance in securing Bunson's release.