Inside Trump's White House

by Doug Wead

  A third unidentified witness, code-named “Prayer,” argued that all US churches and their missionaries were connected to a plot to undermine the Turkish government. Prayer argued that Mormon missionaries, who provide missions to the Kurdish region, entered the Resurrection Church and spoke with Brunson. In the minds of the prosecutors, speaking with Mormon missionaries provided the evidentiary link between Brunson and the outlawed PKK.

  The sixty-two-page indictment against Brunson was littered with circumstantial evidence and ever-changing and contradictory testimony. Meanwhile, Brunson was denied any chance to provide for his own defense. His ten defense witnesses were all declared “suspects” by the Turkish court, although none were ever charged. Still, with this designation, their statements clearing the pastor of any wrongdoing were inadmissible.

  In the middle of this bizarre trial, Trump tweeted, “My thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!”

  The Turkish government never stated publicly why it had imprisoned Brunson. He was a Christian living in an intolerant Islamic nation. As an American Christian, held in a Turkish prison, surrounded by fellow inmates, including anti-Western Islamic terrorists, Brunson was in an untenable situation. He and twenty other inmates were jammed into a cell that was designed to hold eight. Brunson lost fifty pounds. He was facing a life sentence.

  TRUMP GETS INVOLVED

  Donald Trump’s involvement in the Brunson case began long before the trial. Upon taking office, he was given a review of the case, and he reacted immediately. A meeting with Erdoğan was set and, on May 16, 2017, the two leaders met in the Oval Office.

  Publicly, Trump praised Erdoğan. “Today, we face a new enemy in the fight against terrorism, and again we seek to face this threat together,”16 he said. Privately, Trump called for Brunson’s release.17

  Trump’s high-profile interest in Brunson’s case eventually saved his life. But the initial reaction of Turkish officials was to move the North Carolina pastor into solitary confinement. It was considered the ultimate punishment in prison. Turkish officials insisted they were protecting their hostage from possible assassination by another prisoner, but Brunson later had nothing but praise for his fellow prisoners. His only fear was of the government.

  In July 2017, Trump held a surprise meeting with Erdoğan at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. In the interview for this book, Andrew Brunson told me that he was following events from his prison cell. “President Trump asked for my release twice,” Brunson said. “The president and Vice President Pence asked for my release at the meal they had after the summit, and I think they had maybe fifteen or twenty minutes with Erdoğan. They later attended a press conference and yet another meal. While they [television broadcasters] showed all these events, I was in prison watching. Erdoğan appeared to refuse my release by basically not answering the president. We don’t know exactly what he said, but clearly, it wasn’t positive.”18

  In the summer of 2017, prison officials allowed Brunson to leave his cell for one hour a week. His wife, Norine, was allowed short, periodic visits, during which she was separated from him by a pane of glass and they spoke by telephone.

  Their daughter, Jacqueline, was also permitted a visit. “It was hard to see my father so broken, so thin, so desperate,” she said. “I’m still waiting for my wedding. I’m still waiting to wear the wedding dress that I got almost a year and a half ago. I’m still waiting for my dad to walk me down the aisle. I’m still waiting for that father-daughter dance.”19

  In September 2017, Erdoğan suggested that Brunson be exchanged for Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic preacher living in exile in America. The US State Department rejected this idea out of hand. Should Brunson, an innocent American Christian who shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place, be free to return to America and Gulen, a Muslim who had violated no American laws and was living freely in the United States, be turned over to the Turkish government for likely torture and execution?

  In July 2018, with Brunson now facing trial, the White House raised the issue anew. Pence, calling for the release of Brunson, threatened Turkey with “large sanctions,” and Trump lauded the pastor as a “wonderful human being.”

  “He is suffering greatly,” Trump said. “This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!”20

  On July 19, the president tweeted: “A total disgrace that Turkey will not release a respected U.S. Pastor, Andrew Brunson, from prison. He has been held hostage far too long. @RT_Erdogan should do something to free this wonderful Christian husband & father. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!”21

  ASKING FOR HELP FROM NETANYAHU

  Trump then tried to broker a deal through a third party. In exchange for Brunson, President Erdoğan requested that a twenty-seven-year-old Turkish citizen, Ebru Özkan, be freed from an Israeli prison and repatriated to her homeland. It would be an act of good faith, Erdoğan said.

  Trump reached out to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It would be a tough political decision to make. Özkan had been arrested in Israel for links to a terrorist organization. But then, Trump and the United States had done many favors for Israel. The next day, she was released from prison, and within the week, she was on a plane back to Turkey.

  The White House now expected Brunson’s release. The long ordeal was over.

  Except it wasn’t. On July 25, 2018, the Trump administration was notified that the hostage had not been freed. In fact, the trial process was going forward. Brunson would face judgment and sentencing. The news hit the White House like a thunderclap. It was seen as a betrayal.

  Erdoğan insisted that it had all been a misunderstanding. “We told the Americans that they could help us with getting Ebru, but we never said, ‘and in exchange, we will give you Brunson.’”22 he said.

  Trump was unimpressed. “I think it’s very sad what Turkey is doing,” he told Reuters. “I think they’re making a terrible mistake. There will be no concessions.”23

  Then Trump offered a warning. “I like Turkey, I like the people of Turkey very much,” he said. “Until now, I had a very good relationship, as you know, with the president. I got along with him great, I had a very good relationship, but it can’t be a one-way street.”24

  Brunson was following this drama from his prison cell in Turkey, hoping that it would lead to a breakthrough. “President Trump had asked Netanyahu to release a Turkish woman being held in Israel,” he remembered. “But that was really the icing on the cake. Other agreements had been privately reached. The Turks basically then asked for more.”25

  Citing Brunson’s deteriorating health and now aware of the pastor’s high profile worldwide, the Turks moved him out of prison and into home detention, pending final judgment. The fifty-year-old pastor and his wife predicted to friends that a guilty verdict would come with a life sentence.

  At the time, two US citizens were also being held captive in Turkey: Serkan Golge, a NASA physicist, and Ismail Kul, a college chemistry professor.

  After his release, Andrew Brunson had been briefed by American officials and had learned more about the details surrounding his captivity and the extraordinary measures that had been taken to win his freedom.

  “There were several agreements that were made that the Turks backed out on,” he said. “And when I say Turks, it all goes back to President Erdoğan. He had the complete authority, and no one would make agreements without his approval. So there were several times when an agreement was reached, and they would back off, trying to get more.”

  While former Obama officials acknowledged that the Brunson affair represented a human-rights violation, some in the American media were critical of the White House’s dealings with Turkey under Trump. Turkey was a NATO ally, they insisted. An irate Turkish foreign minister tweeted, “No one dictates to Turkey.”26

  The next month, while Brunson awaited sentencing, Trump slapped sanctions on two Turkish officials, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Ministe
r of Interior Suleyman Soylu. They had both been involved in Brunson’s apprehension. Then, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control invoked the Global Magnitsky Act, thereby blocking both officials’ access to US assets and halting their ability to do business with US entities.

  Erdoğan was unimpressed. In retaliation, Turkey levied sanctions on US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.

  TRUMP’S KNOCKOUT PUNCH

  The White House solicited involvement from the US public, a move that translated into congressional action. Senator Thom Tillis from North Carolina and Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, both Republicans, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a Democrat, led a bipartisan group dedicated to returning Brunson and others like him to the United States.

  A total of seventy-one senators signed a letter to Erdoğan citing “anonymous accusations, flights of fantasy, and random character assassination” and demanding Brunson’s release.

  Meanwhile, Trump urged the State Department to brief NATO and the European Parliament on the case. By the third day of the Brunson trial, ninety-eight members of the European Parliament had sent an open letter to remind Erdoğan of “the European and International commitments of the Republic of Turkey in regard to freedom of religion, to the prohibition of arbitrary detention, and to the right to a fair trial.”27

  At the same time, the Trump administration maintained its pressure on Halkbank. The Turkish state-owned bank had been identified as aiding Iran in an attempt to evade US sanctions and was facing billions of dollars in possible fines.

  After the Trump administration declined to clear Halkbank in exchange for Brunson’s release, negotiations ended in a stalemate. But Congress continued to exert pressure, with Senator Tillis introducing a bill rejecting international loans to Turkey. “If the Turkish government continues to detain Pastor Brunson,” said Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, “as well as locally employed staff, journalists, and civil servants, then the United States cannot continue to support loans to Turkey from International Financial Institutions.”28

  Still, Erdoğan was unmoved. He also appeared to be puzzled that Trump and the Americans were willing to risk so much over one person whose significance appeared minimal. Speaking to an audience in the Black Sea resort city of Rize, he said, “If the US is turning its back on us … choosing a pastor instead, sorry. We continue our path with decisive steps. This treatment by America of its strategic partner has annoyed us, it has upset us.”29

  But still, Erdoğan made it clear that Brunson would not be released.

  Trump understood money and he understood markets, maybe better than any president before him. He knew that power is fueled by money. For the first time in his life, he was able to wield both in excessive amounts. The question was how far was he willing to go to secure the release of an American hostage.

  On August 10, 2018, with Turkey in the middle of an economic crisis, Trump hit the country hard. “I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!” he tweeted. “Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”30

  Hovering around 3.7 to the dollar, the Turkish lira had started 2018 on shaky ground. Coupled with US political sanctions and political unrest between Turkey and the United States, the Turkish lira climbed to 4.7 by the middle of July. Waiting for a political victor to emerge, investors anxiously sat on the sidelines watching the political drama unfold.

  Investors responded immediately to Trump’s tweet by exiting the stock market, and the Turkish lira plummeted from 4.7 to the dollar in July to almost 7.0 by mid-August. Billions of dollars had been lost within days.

  The Turkish government responded with sanctions of its own. In retaliation against the tariffs levied by Trump, Erdoğan approved tariff increase on American cars, alcohol, and tobacco. Responding to the tariffs and the rapid decline of the lira, Erdoğan appealed to his fellow Turks for support. “If you have dollars, euros or gold under your pillow, go to banks to exchange them for Turkish lira,” he said. “It is a national fight.”31

  Back in his prison cell, Brunson was watching as the brinksmanship played out. “Turkey’s economy already had systemic problems,” the pastor told me. “There were serious problems. They were headed toward a crash. But when Trump imposed the sanctions and the steel and aluminum tariffs were doubled, that was the signal to the market and many people to get out. Also, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  “When it came to my release, there had been several times when an agreement had been reached, and they would back off trying to get more. So, they were already teetering, and the economy was going to go. They had serious problems. Also, the Turkish stock market lost forty billion dollars immediately. The lira going up to seven was a big shock to the economy.

  “Yet in spite of that, Erdoğan doubled down and would not let me go.

  “I was very upset and my family was very upset. Very significant steps had already been taken. ‘If this won’t do it, what will do it and can the United States even do any more?’”

  Worldwide headlines captured the moment. In the UAE National: “Trump Hits Turkey with Doubled Tariffs as Lira Tumbles.”32 In the UK Telegraph: “Trump’s New Tariffs Send Turkey’s Currency Crashing.”33

  FREEDOM FOR THE HOSTAGE

  It was now clear that there would be no further decisions regarding Brunson until the Turkish court reconvened in October 2017.

  The world now had a clearer picture of what had been going on inside Turkey. The pro-government media was heavily invested in the process. They had labeled Brunson an American spy and had been working closely with the prosecutor’s office. The media and the prosecutors had fed on the stories and rumors of the other, driven on by popular opinion. The facts were what they wanted them to be.34 But the whole world was now monitoring the process and listening to the prosecutor’s narrative, following his evidence, seeing how the court refused any explanation from the defense. It might have been enough in Turkey, where Christians were considered by many to be “infidels,” but it did not work for any objective observer.

  The Turkish economy was in shambles. For what? The man they were trying to put in prison for life was seen by the world as innocent. On September 6, 2018, the head prosecutor was removed from the case.

  The crisis had reached an impasse. On October 12, 2018, in the city of Aliaga, Turkey, better known as the final destination of the 1970s television series The Love Boat, a three-judge panel prepared to deliver its verdict.

  For the first time, Brunson was allowed to speak for himself. He appeared shaken. He had already tasted life for two years in a Turkish prison. He knew what lay ahead. “I am an innocent human being,” he proclaimed. “I love Jesus, and I love Turkey.” Brunson’s whole body convulsed, tears and sweat covered his face. He embraced his wife in preparation for the impending verdict.

  Following five hours of deliberation, the three-judge panel made their announcement.

  Guilty.

  Now awaiting the judges’ sentence, Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, clung to each other in anxious stillness. The crime? Aiding terrorism. The sentence? Three years, one month, and fifteen days. As a result of Pastor Brunson’s good conduct, the judge reduced the sentence to time served.

  Norine described the scene in the courthouse. “We just got on our knees in the courthouse; we didn’t care what anybody thought.”

  Donald Trump tweeted from the White House, “My thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Brunson, and we hope to have him safely back home soon!”

  Brunson was euphoric. “This is the day our family has been praying for,” he said. “I am delighted to be on my way home to the United States. It’s been an extremely difficult time for our family and we want to express our appreciation to the millions of people around the world who have faithfully pra
yed for this day.”35

  TIC TACS IN THE ROOSEVELT ROOM

  President Trump welcomed the Brunsons to the White House on October 12, 2018. “From a Turkish prison to the White House in 24 hours, that’s not bad,” Trump said.36

  During my interview with Brunson in the summer of 2019, I asked him about his visit with the president. “What we remember, Doug, is that the president is very friendly. Norine said that he has a big heart. That is the feeling we get from him. Just a big heart; that he is genuinely caring about people.”

  They met first in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing. “So, we were standing there,” Brunson said. “President Trump walked over and greeted us. He pulled out a box of Tic Tacs, breath mints, and he offered me some, and I said, ‘No, no thank you.’ Then I thought, ‘Wait, if the president is offering you some, I better take them.’ So he gave me three and poured them out in my hands.”

  They then moved to the Oval Office, which was packed with reporters.

  “The one thing that I remember most from that experience,” Brunson said, “is the thought that only twenty-four hours before I had been convicted of supporting terrorist groups. And within twenty-four hours, within one day, I was meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office.

  “I had another thought. Only seventeen months earlier, President Trump had a summit with President Erdoğan of Turkey. And he sat in the same yellow chair that I was sitting in. The pictures showed President Trump and Erdoğan, sitting in those same yellow chairs. And I just thought that was a wonderful story of redemption.”

  Video from the meeting showed Branson getting out of his chair and kneeling to pray for the president. The scene was carried around the world.

  “I asked, ‘Would it be okay for me to pray for you?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’