--- title: President Trump Falsely Accuses Obama of Guantanamo Release description: President Donald Trump on Tuesday falsely blamed former President Barack Obama for releasing "122 vicious prisoners" from Guantanamo Bay canonical: https://time.com/4693258/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay-release/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-07T14:01:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:19:33.468Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Falsely Accuses Obama of Releasing 122 'Vicious Prisoners' from Guantanamo og:description: Of the 122 detainees, 113 were released by former President George W. Bush og:url: https://time.com/4693258/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay-release/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33cd940a6488fad/6988bd472dce013cf39ec8a9/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Falsely Accuses Obama of Releasing 122 'Vicious Prisoners' from Guantanamo twitter:description: Of the 122 detainees, 113 were released by former President George W. Bush twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb33cd940a6488fad/6988bd472dce013cf39ec8a9/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Accused Obama of Releasing 122 Gitmo Prisoners Who 'Returned to the Battlefield.' He's Wrong > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=71d4c46e-9afc-4779-804b-cac178e05c15&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Fact Check: President Trump Accused Obama of Releasing 122 Gitmo Prisoners Who 'Returned to the Battlefield" [Watch (HLS stream): Fact Check: President Trump Accused Obama of Releasing 122 Gitmo Prisoners Who 'Returned to the Battlefield"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PSBeFScP.m3u8) (0:50)  _Published 2017-03-07. As of July 15, 2016, a total of 693 detainees were transferred. 122 of whom were confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorist activities. But 113 out of 122 were released under former President George W. Bush and just nine were released under Obama_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 2:01 PM UTC As of July 15, 2016, a total of 693 detainees were transferred. 122 of whom were confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorist activities. But 113 out of 122 were released under former President George W. Bush and just nine were released under Obama  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 2:01 PM UTC [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4693014/trump-wiretap-congress-justice-department/) on Tuesday falsely blamed former President Barack Obama for releasing from [Guantanamo Bay](http://time.com/3672066/guantanamo-bay-history/) “122 vicious prisoners” who returned to terrorist activities. “122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/839084268991229952) Tuesday morning. But Trump’s accusation is inaccurate. As of July 15, 2016, a total of 693 Guantanamo Bay detainees had been transferred — 122 of whom were confirmed to have reengaged in terrorist activities, according to a [report](https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/FINAL%20-%20GTMO%20Unclass%20CDA%20Response%20-%20September%202016.pdf) from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Of those 122 people, 113 were released under former President George W. Bush. Just nine were released under Obama. Trump’s tweet followed a [_Fox & Friends_ segment](https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/839076420018065408?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) on a U.S. airstrike in Yemen that killed a former Guantanamo Bay detainee. ## Transcript [00:18] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4693258/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay-release/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4693258/donald-trump-guantanamo-bay-release/"},"headline":"President Trump Accused Obama of Releasing 122 Gitmo Prisoners Who 'Returned to the Battlefield.' 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