Trump Hosts Freed US Pastor At White House

US President Donald Trump has welcomed freed US pastor Andrew Brunson at the White House, hours after he arrived in Washington back home from Turkey following two years in detention.

“You are very special to us,” he told Brunson at the Oval Office meeting on Saturday.

“We’ve been negotiating long and hard,” Trump said, referring to the US effort to secure Brunson’s freedom.

Trump thanked Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for “making this possible” and said the preacher’s return to the US marks a “tremendous step” forward in relations with Ankara.

The 50-year-old evangelical pastor was convicted of terror-related charges and sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in jail on Friday. But he was immediately freed, taking into account the time already served and good conduct during the trial.

Brunson thanked Trump, saying “you really fought for us”.

He then led his family in prayer for the president and asked God for “supernatural wisdom” for the US leader.