Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump's presidential envoy for special missions, is returning from Venezuela with six U.S. citizens after meeting with the country's president
Grenell met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday as part of the Trump administration's efforts to deport violent criminal illegal immigrants from the United States and send them back to their country of origin. He announced later on Friday through a post on X that he was returning to the U.S. with six American citizens who had been detained in the country.
We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens.
They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him. pic.twitter.com/sCvCO4HQQv
"We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens. They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him," Grenell said in the post on X.
The mission to the South American country was Grenell's first abroad since he was appointed the envoy for special missions. Grenell was present at a roundtable during Trump's visit to wildfire-damaged Los Angeles last week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Friday that Grenell's two objectives with his visit were to ensure the release of detained U.S. citizens and to find somewhere for illegal immigrant gang members to be deported to.
"Number one, Rick Grenell has been instructed to identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights of Tren de Aragua members, of Venezuelan nationals who have broken our nation’s laws, will land in Venezuela,” Leavitt said at a White House press briefing.
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“Number two, Rick Grenell is in Venezuela to ensure that all U.S. detainees in Venezuela are returned home," she added.
Grenell's meeting in Venezuela comes as the Trump administration has been working on ensuring countries take back illegal immigrations who are deported from the U.S.