EXCLUSIVE: ‘Trump Is A Deal Man’: Wife Of American Hostage Ryan Corbett Explains Why She Flew To Mar-A-Lago

President-elect Donald Trump shared Thursday, surrounded by Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago, that he was being briefed on a potential deal to bring home three Americans held hostage by the Taliban. About 12 hours later, Anna Corbett, the wife of one of those hostages, Ryan Corbett, was on a plane headed towards the “winter White House.”

In a tweet Thursday night, Anna announced that she was packing her bags and heading down to the president-elect’s residence.

Anna has no real plan and, at the time of publication, no meeting on the books with Trump. She’s armed only with the mission of doing anything she can to get her husband home.

“It’s been going on very, very long for our family — 883 days today — and I have been begging and asking for a meeting with President Biden and hopeful that this situation would be resolved during this administration, and have not been given a meeting with the president yet. Anna said in an interview with the Daily Caller as she waited for her connecting flight down to Palm Beach. “In desperation, I decided with the children to plan a trip to Mar-a-Lago in the hopes of meeting with President Elect Trump.”

Anna told the Caller that several politicians are working on trying to get her a meeting with the president-elect.

“I think it would be totally amazing if I had a meeting with him within a day of asking for one, after waiting this long for a meeting with President Biden, and I am desperate,” Anna said.

Anna is packing, kissing her kids goodbye, and heading to Mar A Lago to try to get a meeting with President Trump because we know he can bring Ryan home. Help us make sure he sees this video. We can’t thank you enough for your support. #freeryancorbett #trump #bidenpic.twitter.com/vLf5nttcSX

— Free Ryan Corbett (@freeryancorbett) January 10, 2025

Ryan Corbett, a U.S. citizen from upstate New York, previously lived in Afghanistan with his family from 2010 to 2021, according to a website dedicated to bringing him home. Corbett was running local NGOs in Afghanistan before starting a microloan and consulting business in the country.

Corbett left Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover but made the decision to go back to get his business visa renewed and visit his staff in January 2022. During a second visit using his business visa in August 2022, Corbett was captured by the Taliban.

Over the last two years, Anna Corbett has made 16 trips to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to meet with President Joe Biden about a potential deal to rescue her husband, she previously told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). But in all 16 trips, Biden has never met with Anna.

But Anna is is hopeful that Trump can help her get something done.

“President Trump is a deal man. He has a strong track record of making really tough and significant deals,” a spokesperson for Anna told the Caller.

“The president of the United States, their job is to make the hardest decisions. That’s the stuff that gets to the desk. And for 883 days, Anna has been trying to get President Biden to make those hard decisions, and he hasn’t been willing to do it. And we’re hopeful that this will be different,” the spokesperson added.

With his term coming to an end, Biden reportedly has a deal on the table to rescue Corbett. Biden’s administration has been in talks with the Taliban about an agreement since at least July, and proposed in November that the group release three Americans — George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Mahmoud Habibi — in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, an Afghan who the U.S. government claims was a high-ranking al Qaeda aide, sources told the WSJ.

Almost 800 days without Ryan. Please @POTUS bring him home #freeryancorbett pic.twitter.com/mSBv356lno

— Free Ryan Corbett (@freeryancorbett) October 15, 2024

The Taliban countered the Biden administration’s deal the same day it was offered, the WSJ reported. The Taliban proposed receiving Rahim and two others for Glezmann and Corbett. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in December that Biden has yet to decide on the deal.

“President Biden’s term is almost over. Before he goes there is talk that he may trade a Guantanamo, al Qaeda detainee for three American hostages held by the Taliban. Should he do that?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump on Thursday.

“Well I haven’t looked at it, I will be looking at it. They are showing me tomorrow morning, they are showing me the trade … I haven’t been in favor of the trades they have made, but I am taking a look tomorrow. We will have something to announce tomorrow,” Trump answered.

Anna wants to make the pitch directly to Trump to get her husband home for her family. Captured for nearly two and a half years, Anna explained that Ryan has missed their three kids, Ketsia, 19, Miriam, 17 and Caleb, 14, grow up.

“We’re really close to family, and we’ve done everything together. Living overseas together had a lot of challenges. The children having to transition back to a new life in Western New York, without Ryan, going through so many changes and opportunities, and having Ryan miss all of that has just been very, very difficult for us,” an emotional Corbett told the Caller.