Trump’s Executive Order: “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention” was signed 10 days ago and has nothing to with Zambia.
By Michael Lombe
When it was signed: President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order on September 5, 2025, titled “Strengthening Efforts to Protect U.S. Nationals from Wrongful Detention Abroad.”
What it does:
It authorizes the U.S. Secretary of State to designate countries that wrongfully detain American citizens as State Sponsors of Wrongful Detention.
Countries given this designation may face sanctions, travel restrictions, export controls, and other penalties.
The designation aims to deter governments from using U.S. nationals as political leverage or hostages, a practice sometimes called “hostage diplomacy.”
Does This Relate to Any Recent Incident in Zambia?
No reported, direct connection currently ties this Executive Order to a recent case involving wrongful detention of an American citizen in Zambia.
As of now, there’s no public indication that Americans have been wrongfully detained in Zambia in a way that has triggered or relates to the Trump administration’s new Executive Order.
In summary:
The EO was signed on September 5, 2025, to create stronger tools against countries that wrongfully detain U.S. citizens. There’s no known recent incident in Zambia involving wrongful detention of U.S. nationals that directly triggers or is referenced in that order.
If Ms Ethel Edwards will remain in Custody without Police Bond, or Bail, that’s when you will know that the Executive Order covers her as a United States of America Citizen.
As early as today, you might see the USA Ambassador visiting her wherever she is being held…She is their Citizen.
If she has committed an offence, let her be given the due process under the Law. If the offense is bondable or bailable, give her bond or Bail. That is the Zambia I believe in.
She’s also a Zambian citizen before being American…
WRONGFUL. DETENTION.
There is nothing wrong with the arrest and detention of the idiot.
Let her respond to her charges in a court of law.