International Trump administration takes heat as Americans slowly return from Middle East by Laura Kelly and Ashleigh Fields - 03/07/26 6:00 AM ET by Laura Kelly and Ashleigh Fields - 03/07/26 6:00 AM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING Tens of thousands of Americans are slowly returning to the U.S. after getting caught in the crossfire of President Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, throwing the region into chaos.  The State Department has said it’s helping charter flights and evacuation plans for stranded Americans as the conflict enters its eighth day. The practical assistance came days after Trump launched strikes against Iran in coordination with Israel that left U.S. citizens on their own to seek shelter or escape.  For Americans in the Middle East, the State Department recommends: For information on charter flights  CLICK HERE Enroll in the STEP program ( https://step.state.gov ) for the State Department to know your whereabouts and communicate updated safety and security information To reach the State Department directly from abroad call +1-202-501-4444 Follow the State Department’s travel website for updated warnings and information https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html https://x.com/TravelGov https://www.instagram.com/statedept/ https://www.facebook.com/statedept https://www.youtube.com/statedept Asked on Tuesday why there weren’t evacuation plans in place or planes ready to take Americans out of the Middle East, Trump said “It happened all very quickly.” Senate Democrats seized on Trump’s remarks as admitting there was no evacuation plan for Americans in the region.  “Americans deserve a government that steps up to help them through times of crisis, not turn their back on them to fend for themselves,” a group of Senate Democrats  wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 4.  On March 4 the State Department opened up a crisis intake form, promising free charter flights and transportation options for stranded Americans.  The first plane chartered by the department arrived in the Middle East on Thursday and landed back in Washington on Friday.   The State Department on Friday said that since Feb. 28, nearly 24,000 Americans have returned home from the Middle East, and the department directly assisted nearly 13,000 Americans abroad, offering security guidance and travel assistance.  But in the immediate hours and days following the U.S. strikes against Iran, Americans were largely on their own. Those transiting through major international hubs like Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Doha, Qatar; or Amman, Jordan — whose flights were grounded by the fighting — were initially told by the State Department not to rely on the U.S. government for assisted departures or evacuations for four days. At the same time, the State Department issued urgent warnings for Americans in at least 14 countries to depart immediately.  Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to Trump, said he  organized and paid  for a private plane to take him and seven other Americans to evacuate the Middle East and that he relied on a long-list of high profile connections to execute the plan .  In a post on X, Bruesewitz thanked Qatar’s prime minister, the government of Saudi Arabia, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle as all helping to facilitate the evacuation.  Amy Mills, from Colorado, was nearing the end of a weeks-long guided trip in Egypt when Trump ordered strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. She has a departure flight scheduled early next week from Cairo, and said changing it earlier would have cost her between $3,500 and $6,000.  Mills said she was aware of rising tensions in the Middle East, in particular after the trip was already planned, but said “it just didn’t seem like they were going to” break out into conflict.  “Maybe it was my denial,” she joked. “But it’s very real. It’s very real, and it’s escalating quickly,”  Mills said the tour company she’s traveling with booked them into a European hotel, worried that American brands would be targets for attacks. And she’s planning to lay low and hope her flight departs as scheduled.  Cairo’s international airport has so far appeared to maintain operations during the week of fighting, and American citizens are encouraged to travel there for more predictable commercial options.  In the UAE, the country’s reputation as a safe haven from Middle East conflict was shattered in the wake of the U.S. and Israeli strikes, with Iran sending an estimated 1,100 missiles and drones.  At least 65 drones broke through UAE defenses, and their collisions shocked residents and tourists traveling througho