What to Know
It’s not every day that a sitting president weighs in on a kidnapping case, but when it involves the mother of a high-profile journalist and Today Show co-anchor, apparently, that’s different. But when Donald Trump commented on Nancy Guthrie‘s disappearance to the New York Post and even shared his idea of what punishment her kidnapper, or kidnappers, can expect, it was kind of odd.
Well, maybe odd is putting it too kindly. Who would have thought that Trump is as invested in this case as the whole of TikTok is? I’m not saying he’s also sitting there watching TikTok lives of updates regarding the case ever since Savannah Guthrie’s mom went missing, but when he commented on it with a threat for Nancy’s kidnappers, he certainly seemed invested.
Trump promised the “most severe” punishments for Nancy Guthrie’s captors.
@joeanybody #greenscreen Nancy Guthrie Update Donald Trump has threatened the kidnappers. #nancyguthrie #update #trump #deathpenalty ♬ الصوت الأصلي – ّ
On Feb. 16, 2026, weeks after Nancy went missing from her Arizona home in the early hours of the morning with no leads about what happened, Trump told the New York Post that he plans to seek “very, very severe” and “the most severe” punishments for those responsible for Nancy’s disappearance. He also agreed that the Department of Justice would seek the death penalty for those involved.
This isn’t the first time Trump shared a vested interest in the case, though.
In early February 2026, not long after Nancy was reported missing, Trump spoke with Savannah. He then posted about it on Truth Social, as one does. How can anyone know you’re devoted to a cause or to helping others if you don’t also post about it on social media?
“I spoke with Savannah Guthrie, and let her know that I am directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted. “We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely. The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family. GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!”
Given Trump’s interest in the case, some users on TikTok called him out for using it as a distraction from the Epstein files, which continue to name names in relation to business and personal dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Those Epstein files gotta be DIABOLICAL,” one user commented on a TikTok about the White House helping with the case.
Another pointed out, “WHY DOES THE PRESIDENT CARE? He hates reporters but all the sudden he cares about a reporter’s mom?”
Trump does have a history of talking down to the press, insulting them, claiming that this network or that one has it in for the Trump Administration as a whole. But, for reasons that some just can’t understand, he is all in when it comes to Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping case.
