Hardly a few hours after the ten American sailors were released that Iran had detained earlier, Donald Trump came out with this tweet:
Iran toys with U.S. days before we pay them, ridiculously, billions of dollars. Don't release money. We want our hostages back NOW!
-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2016
It didn't take long for the first mocking tweets to come back in response:
@realDonaldTrump they've already been released. Keep up!
-- Andrew (@snickerfritz04) January 13, 2016
They already released them @realDonaldTrump
-- KEEMSTAR (@KEEMSTARx) January 13, 2016
But Trump wasn't talking about *those* hostages. Most likely this tweet was in reference to the four Americans -- Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini and former FBI agent Robert Levinson -- still held (or presumed to be held) by Iran.
Trump has repeatedly called for including their release in any deal made with Iran and has criticized the current administration for not pushing harder on the issue.
Granted, Trump could have been clearer in his tweet by mentioning exactly which hostages he wanted back but we suspect the 140-character limit and Trump's tendency to use his opponents to amplify his message stopped him from doing that. It seems to be working: the retweets, likes and comments are streaming in under the tweet, with Trump supporters pointing out which hostages the tweet was about to anyone mocking Trump for being 'late'.
