CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale disputed President Trump’s claim that he freed Mariam Ibrahim with a single phone call, noting Ibrahim was released in 2014 during the Obama administration. Dale credited Religion News Service reporter Jack Jenkins for flagging inconsistencies and pointed out that when Ibrahim visited the White House in 2019, Trump did not claim to have arranged her release. CNN asked the White House for comment and received no response.
Daniel Dale Refutes Trump’s Claim He Freed Mariam Ibrahim: ‘She Was Released During the Obama Administration’
Daniel Dale, CNN’s senior fact-checker, has challenged President Donald Trump’s recent claim that he secured the release of persecuted Sudanese Christian Mariam Ibrahim “with one phone call,” noting that Ibrahim was actually freed in 2014 during the Obama administration.
Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump recounted Ibrahim’s case — she was imprisoned and sentenced to death in Sudan in 2014 because of her faith — and suggested he personally arranged her release. “I did that. I did that. I did that with one phone call, actually,” Trump said, adding that the response from foreign officials was immediate: “Yes, sir, we will do it right away.”
Fact-Check And Public Record
Dale disputed that account in a Friday fact-check, citing contemporary reports and crediting Religion News Service reporter Jack Jenkins for first raising doubts about the president’s narrative. Ibrahim’s release followed international outrage in 2014 and is documented as occurring under the Obama administration. There is no public evidence that a private U.S. citizen or celebrity convinced Sudanese authorities to release her by phone.
“Ibrahim was released in 2014, during the Obama administration,” Dale wrote, noting the absence of any indication that Trump — then a private citizen and celebrity — persuaded Sudanese authorities to free her.
White House Meeting In 2019
Dale also pointed to Ibrahim’s 2019 visit to the White House for an event honoring survivors of religious persecution. Video and contemporaneous accounts show an aide briefly summarized Ibrahim’s story for Trump; the president then told her, “We got you out, that’s good, that’s great,” but did not publicly recount having personally arranged her release.
In his fact-check, Dale referenced prior reporting that identified a pattern of Trump telling anecdotes in which unnamed people address him as “sir,” and described this instance as consistent with that pattern.
When CNN sought comment from the White House about Trump’s asserted role in Ibrahim’s release, the network reported it received no response.
Bottom line: Public records show Mariam Ibrahim was released in 2014 during the Obama administration, and there is no verifiable evidence supporting Trump’s claim that he secured her release with a single phone call.
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