Trump Threatens to Release Foreign Islamic State Captives

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump threatened to release foreign Islamic State captives held by the U.S. on the borders of their home countries, including Germany, unless their governments accept their return.

“If they don’t take them back, we’re going to probably put them at the border and they’re going to have to capture them again,” Trump told reporters on Friday during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House.

“They have to make their decision, otherwise we are releasing them at the border,” Trump added.

Administration officials have long pressed European allies to take back captured Islamic State terrorists of foreign nationality. Thousands of former fighters are held in make-shift prisons in Syria, many of which have been guarded by U.S.-allied Kurdish militias.

Trump has been insistent on moving the prisoners as he looks to reduce the U.S. military presence in Syria.

Transferring Islamic State prisoners out of Syria is also a key goal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has looked to weaken ties between the U.S. and its Kurdish allies. Erdogan is expected to raise the issue next week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Trump said on Wednesday that he’s given U.S. allies a “deadline” to accept the return of their Islamic State fighters, but did not specify when it would expire.

“Many come from Germany. Many come from France. Many come from Poland,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “And I’ve given them a deadline. I said, ‘Take them back.’ Because we’re not going to.”

Most foreign governments have been reluctant to take custody of Islamic State fighters from their countries over fears that they could radicalize their fellow prison inmates or strain resources.

The Trump administration has in the past considered transferring some hardened fighters to the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But the president on Wednesday lamented that the facility, which holds around 40 fighters, costs too much to operate.

“It costs a fortune to operate it and I think it’s crazy,” the president said, adding that his administration is “looking at a lot of things” with regard to operating costs.

The U.S. government spends an estimated $13 million per Guantanamo inmate each year, according to figures compiled by the New York Times.

To contact the reporters on this story: Josh Wingrove in Washington at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net;Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu

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