Trump Administration Asked Russia to Press Assad for Release of Missing Journalist Austin Tice

U.S. officials asked Russia to use its influence with Bashar al-Assad to secure the release of journalist Austin Tice during President Trump's first term. Robert O'Brien, then a hostage negotiator and later national security adviser, made the request to Russian national security adviser Nikolai Patrushev after intelligence indicated Tice was likely still alive.

Patrushev agreed to the request. O'Brien wrote that Russia had been one of Assad's patrons and that Russian military intervention in 2015 helped the survival of the Syrian regime. " Tice, a freelance journalist and Marine veteran, disappeared in August 2012 while reporting on the Syrian civil war.

Weeks later, a short video appeared online showing him blindfolded with apparent captors. It was the last time he was seen. Kash Patel, actor Sean Penn, the Vatican, the king of Jordan, Czech officials, various Gulf states, and a Lebanese businessman also pursued leads or backchannel contacts with the Assad regime.

In fall 2020, O'Brien sent Kash Patel, then the National Security Council's senior director for counterterrorism, and Roger Carstens, his successor as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, to Damascus. The two officials met with Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk.

U.S. Central Command to monitor and protect the Americans during the overland drive from Beirut. O'Brien wrote that there was no unanimity within the administration on the wisdom of the trip. Sean Penn contacted O'Brien in 2019 after meeting Lebanese businessman Elias Kwaham at a Los Angeles fundraiser.

Kwaham claimed he had seen Tice at a meeting arranged by the regime. O'Brien met with Penn and Kwaham to plan intermediary efforts, but the hoped-for connections did not materialize. O'Brien also met King Abdullah II of Jordan at a counterterrorism conference in Napa Valley, California, and asked him to task Jordanian security services for leads.

The king agreed but noted the lack of proof of life in recent years. At a Vatican-hosted dinner, O'Brien connected with a prominent Lebanese businessman who had grown up with Assad. The businessman reached out to Assad, who said that if the Americans wanted Tice back, they should not proceed in such a secretive way.

The CIA changed its assessment in 2024 to indicate with low confidence that Tice was likely dead. O'Brien stated that the first Trump administration recovered 55 Americans from 24 countries without concessions. More than 80 Americans have been recovered during President Trump's second term.