I Thought Captors Were Joking When They Said Trump Was President, Recalls Ex-Canadian Captive

A Canadian man who was rescued from the Haqqani Network earlier this week, said he thought his captors were joking when they told him that Donald Trump had become US president.

The Hill quoted Joshua Boyle as saying that one of the captors had said that Trump was elected president before he was forced to film a "proof-of-life" video.

"It didn't enter my mind that he was being serious," Boyle said.

Joshua Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman and their three children, were freed on Thursday in a joint operation carried out by Pakistani forces based on intelligence from American authorities.

The couple was held for five years by the Haqqani Network in Afghanistan. Their three children were born during their captivity.