President Trump not only invited imprisoned aid worker Aya Hijazi to the Oval Office after securing her release from an Egyptian prison, but he used an interview with the Associated Press to throw shade at former President Obama on her fate.
According to a transcript released Sunday evening by the AP, Mr. Trump asked reporter Julie Pace before she could flesh out a question about his first 100 days in office, “did you see Aya,” who had been detained in Egypt since 2014.
When asked if he could describe how the release had come about, Mr. Trump said No, just — you know, I asked the government to let her out.”
“You know Obama worked on it for three years, got zippo, zero,” Mr. Trump said.
He denied striking any kind of deal with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during his visit to the White House earlier this month, saying “No. No deal. He was here. I said, ’I really would appreciate it if you would look into this and let her out.’”
Mr. Trump greeted Ms. Hijazi, an Egyptian who also holds U.S. citizenship, on Friday shortly after her return to the U.S. on a military flight from Cairo after being acquitted of human trafficking charges stemming from her work with street children.
She was accompanied by her brother in the meeting, which was also attended by presidential aides Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Dina Powell, a National Security Council official who was born in Egypt.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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