Adam Boehler withdraws nomination to be Trumps top hostage negotiator

The Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, the White House said Friday. “Adam Boehler will continue to serve President Trump as a special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” a White House spokesperson told The Post. “Adam played a critical role in negotiating the return of Marc Fogel from Russia,” the spokesperson added.“He will continue this important work to bring wrongfully detained individuals around the world home.” A senior White House official indicated that Boehler opted to serve the administration as a special government employee – like DOGE chief Elon Musk – to avoid having to divest from a healthcare company he co-founded. “He still has the utmost confidence of President Trump,” the senior official added. Boehler sparked controversy earlier this month after Axios reported that he had been engaging in secret talks with Hamas officials over hostages held by the terror group. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the unprecedented move to allow Boehler to negotiate with the terror group as a “one-off situation.”“That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so,” Rubio told reporters.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not notified of the secret talks, according to Israeli officials. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer allegedly told Netanyahu’s security cabinet that Boehler’s negotiations did not represent the White House’s position on the peace talks, Axios reported.Dermer also claimed that the Trump administration had promised Israel that such talks “won’t happen again,” and that special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, not Boehler, will serve as the lead negotiator, an Israeli ...