President Donald Trump said Friday he is “glad” the US was able to bring back Otto Warmbier, the American who was detained in North Korea for 17 months, though he expressed outrage that he is now in a coma.
Warmbier, 22, arrived in the United States on Tuesday. He is being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
“Let me start by saying that I’m glad Secretary of State of Rex Tillerson and I, along with a very talented team, were able to get Otto Warmbier back with his parents,” Trump said during a speech in Miami. “What’s happened to him is a truly terrible thing, but at least the ones who love him so much can now take care of him and be with him.”
Warmbier was a University of Virginia student when he was detained while touring North Korea. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly trying to steal a banner with a political slogan from his hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea.
North Korea claimed that Warmbier’s brain damage is due to botulism, but Warmbier’s doctors said Thursday they have found no evidence to support that claim.