{"id":2603364,"date":"2026-05-15T20:24:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-not-optimistic-about-securing-jimmy-lais-release-from-ccp-prison\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T20:25:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T00:25:52","slug":"trump-not-optimistic-about-securing-jimmy-lais-release-from-ccp-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-not-optimistic-about-securing-jimmy-lais-release-from-ccp-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump &#8216;not optimistic&#8217; about securing Jimmy Lai&#8217;s release from CCP prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-not-optimistic-about-securing-jimmy-lais-release-from-ccp-prison%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2603364&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump said he is \u201cnot optimistic\u201d about China releasing jailed Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai.In comments from a Fox News interview, Trump said he personally raised Lai\u2019s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping but encountered an unhelpful response, and he suggested Lai\u2019s health has worsened with age.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also discussed other detained religious and human rights cases, including imprisoned pastor Ezra jin, citing his prior record of securing releases of Americans and detainees abroad.He contrasted his approach with former President Joe Biden\u2019s alleged emphasis on prisoner exchanges tied to financial concessions.<\/p>\n<p>Lai,78,has been held for years-often in solitary confinement-under hong Kong\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hong-kong-newspaper-prints-5x-daily-copies-after-police-raid\/\" title=\"Hong Kong Newspaper Prints 5x Daily Copies After Police Raid\">2020 national security law<\/a> and faces charges including alleged collaboration with foreign forces. Trump previously pledged to seek Lai\u2019s release if elected, but his latest remarks indicate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bank-of-america-warns-of-looming-unemployment-shock\/\" title=\"Bank of America Warns of Looming Unemployment Shock\">prospects remain dim<\/a> given beijing\u2019s stance.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> on Friday said he is \u201cnot optimistic\u201d about securing the release of jailed <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hong-kong\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1074\">Hong Kong<\/a> democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, signaling dim prospects for one of the highest-profile human rights cases raised during his recent visit to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/china\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"232\">China<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking in an interview released Friday with Fox News host Bret Baier, Trump said he personally raised Lai\u2019s case with Chinese President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/xi-jinping\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"233\">Xi Jinping<\/a> but was met with resistance. <\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4570661\/jd-vance-public-safety-not-only-for-rich-powerful-police-week-address\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Vance: Public safety shouldn\u2019t be only for the \u2018rich and powerful\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4570620\/vance-lowest-level-on-duty-law-enforcement-deaths-80-years\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Vance touts lowest level of on<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-duty law enforcement deaths<\/a> in 80 years<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4570327\/faith-leaders-administration-officials-rededicate-250\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Faith leaders and administration officials join together for Rededicate 250: What to know<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>\u201cI brought up Jimmy Lai, and I would say the response to that was not positive,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI said, \u2018Well, I would appreciate it if you would release him. He\u2019s gotten old, and he\u2019s probably not feeling too well. It would be nice.\u2019 And I did not feel optimistic. I\u2019d have to be honest with you about that one.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Trump said he discussed Lai\u2019s detention alongside other religious and human rights cases, including a pastor imprisoned abroad, while touting his past success securing the release of Americans and foreign detainees. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve gotten hundreds of people out of different situations,\u201d Trump said, referencing the release of American pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkey during his first term. Trump contrasted his approach with that of former President Joe Biden, criticizing the use of prisoner exchanges involving financial concessions. <\/p>\n<p>Lai, 78, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democracy\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1040\">democracy<\/a> newspaper <em>Apply Daily<\/em>, has become a symbol of Beijing\u2019s crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong following the city\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/communist-puppet-govt-in-hong-kong-refuses-to-renew-western-journalists-visa\/\" title=\"Communist Puppet Govt in Hong Kong Refuses to Renew Western Journalist&#039;s Visa\">sweeping national security law imposed<\/a> in 2020. <\/p>\n<p>A British citizen, Lai has been held in solitary confinement for years while facing charges that include collusion with foreign forces under the security law. He has pleaded not guilty. Rights groups, Western governments, and press freedom advocates argue the case is politically motivated and reflects Beijing\u2019s erosion of freedoms once guaranteed under Hong Kong\u2019s \u201cone country, two systems\u201d framework.<\/p>\n<p>Trump had previously vowed on the campaign trail that he would seek Lai\u2019s release if returned to office, calling the publisher a political prisoner. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4561042\/trump-china-xi-jinping-visit\/\"><strong>WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP\u2019S TRIP TO CHINA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s comments mark his second acknowledgment that Chinese officials may be unwilling to budge. He previously said the case is \u201ca tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump also mentioned he had a discussion with Xi about the release of imprisoned Pastor Ezra Jin, who was arrested in October for leading an underground Zion church.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump said he\u2019s \u201cnot optimistic\u201d about releasing jailed Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4130,"featured_media":2603365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26135247313187.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[51019,48598,3634],"class_list":["post-2603364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ccp-2","tag-jimmy-lai","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26135247313187.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2603364"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2603368,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603364\/revisions\/2603368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2603365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2603364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2603364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2603364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}