Terrified Americans stranded across the Middle East are accusing the Trump administration of abandoning them in a war zone, while the White House quietly arranged a private jet to fly a group of MAGA influencers to safety.
US citizens trapped in the region exclusively told the Daily Mail that they are receiving ‘zero help’ from the State Department.
One traveler, who asked to remain anonymous until he is safely home, shared photos of a jam-packed Dubai International Airport. He described a harrowing, days-long ordeal trying to reach his family in the Washington DC area.
‘I’m desperately trying to get out,’ he said. ‘We are now at the airport, trying to catch a flight to Ethiopia so that we can transfer to Rome and then to DC. Almost all the flights have been canceled today, despite the small handful that have gotten out.’
The frustration is boiling over as other nations move to evacuate their own citizens. The Trump administration has insisted it is doing the same, but US travelers have said they have so far received no support.
‘The UK and Russian governments are getting their people out, the Americans are doing absolutely nothing,’ the tourist told the Daily Mail. ‘We are left to fend for ourselves, and the State Department in the American embassy is giving us absolutely zero help.’
Critics have highlighted a stark disparity after the White House helped a clutch of MAGA influencers flee the Middle East by private jet while hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans remain stranded.
Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz, dog-walker Sarah Daither and former lobbyist Jay Footlik were among six who fled on a plane Bruesewitz chartered after US strikes on Iran.
TTrump adviser Alex Bruesewitz, dog-walker Sarah Daither and former lobbyist Jay Footlik were among six who fled on a plane Bruesewitz chartered after US strikes on Iran. PICTURED: Bruesewitz and his wife Carolina
Trump adviser, Alex Bruesewitz (right front), dog–walker Sarah Daither (middle left), former lobbyist Jay Footlik and others managed to escape on a private plane
‘This has easily been the craziest experience of my life,’ Bruesewitz said.
Bruesewitz used his White House connections and contacts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar to extract the group after airports closed and the US Embassy ordered staff to shelter in place.
US citizens stuck abroad have been sharing their stories, voicing frustration with the Trump administration for ‘not thinking this through.’
‘All they’re doing is telling the American people that they need to get out, that is probably what you’re hearing back home, but that is totally not the story on the ground here,’ the tourist told the Daily Mail.
Americans from Dubai to Jerusalem report being ‘scared to death,’ surrounded by fighter jets and the thud of intercepted missiles overhead.
Chris Elliott and his 17-year-old daughter Riley were on a religious pilgrimage with a group from North Carolina’s Triad region when the strikes began, shattering the trip with the sounds of warfare.
‘Hearing the explosions is something I wouldn’t wish on anybody. I’m scared to death,’ Elliott told WXII-TV.
He shared a video online on Saturday as they heard missiles and military aircraft overhead.
‘We never expected to be caught in the middle of a war zone. It’s like something you’ve never seen before in your life. Literally soldiers all around us,’ he said.
Chris Elliott and his 17-year-old daughter Riley were on a religious pilgrimage when the strikes began
Chicago native Sasha Hoffman, stranded in Dubai, said the State Department is demanding the impossible when telling Americans to come home
Florida resident Krista Jucknath Hickman and her husband Mike said their vacation turned to chaos the moment they reached the airport
Shanice Day, a 30-year-old stylist from Houston, was in Dubai celebrating her birthday when the strikes began
His daughter Riley said: ‘We are in Jerusalem, surrounded by great people, on the land that Jesus walked on, so he’s definitely got his hand on each and every one of us.’
Shanice Day, a 30-year-old stylist from Houston, was in Dubai celebrating her birthday when the strikes began.
She said she was shopping in the city’s famous mall when she heard the sounds of missiles. ‘It really shook me up. A lot. It felt like an out–of–body experience,’ Day told Business Insider.
Her flight home was then cancelled.
‘We broke down in tears. We’re 8,000 miles away from our family and friends. We don’t know when this will be over. We didn’t know how we were going to get out,’ she said.
Chicago native Sasha Hoffman, stranded in Dubai, said the State Department is demanding the impossible.
‘We are honestly trapped. It is really frustrating that right now the US is saying, Americans, come home. When the reality is we can’t come home. All of our flights are cancelled… they have only let out a handful of flights,’ Hoffman told CBS News.
Florida resident Krista Jucknath Hickman and her husband Mike said their vacation turned to chaos the moment they reached the airport.
One traveler, who asked to remain anonymous for his safety, shared photos of a jam–packed Dubai International Airport where stranded passengers are packed in like sardines
With official help lines proving useless, the couple were forced to take a dangerous gamble.
‘The number provided by the state department for support is unable to help,’ she told the BBC. ‘I called twice.’
She added: ‘All that can be done is book flights that don’t take off.’
The couple eventually paid $1,000 for a private driver to take them across the border into Oman in search of a flight home.
Americans in 16 countries, including Israel, Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia, were instructed by the US State Department to ‘DEPART NOW’ using commercial transportation, citing ‘serious safety risks.’
But those stranded say the instruction bears no relation to the reality of closed airspaces and grounded planes.
The White House says it has identified around 1,600 Americans seeking to return home and has a plan in motion.
A cyclist watches in horror as a supersonic missile launched by Iran falls over Dubai
Smoke rises from an area in the direction of Al Udeid Air Base, which houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force and foreign forces, including the US
Many Americans remain trapped in the Middle East after the Trump Administration issued military strikes in Iran on Saturday morning
‘We are chartering flights as we speak. For operational security reasons, we don’t want to publicize when these flights are taking off as Iran has obviously shown a willingness to hit Americans and casualties,’ a White House spokesperson said.
A State Department official confirmed the government is ‘actively securing’ military aircraft and charter flights for Americans seeking to leave, adding that he has been in contact with 3,000 Americans to coordinate departure options.
The State Department told the Daily Mail that over 9,000 Americans have safely returned from the Middle East, including 300 from Israel.
The US and Israel have continued their strikes on Tehran, warning civilians in Persian to evacuate the Hakimiya Industrial Zone and the area around Payam Airport in Karaj on Tuesday, where military targets were being hit.
Trump warned ‘the big one is coming’ and that ‘the big wave hasn’t even happened,’ even as hundreds of thousands of Americans remained stranded across the region.
