President Donald Trump said cryptically Sunday that the US military had secured the release of the woman, but gave no details.

"We were able to get a young woman released from a certain area who was being horribly accosted, horribly treated," Trump said.

Trump said Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley "took care of it. We went in and we got her out, but that was rough stuff," he said.

Trump did not name the country, but Esper clarified it Monday.

"We had a young lady, a young American, who was the victim of a violent crime in Honduras, I believe," he said.

"She has been returned to the United States, and I'll just say, out of respect for her and her family, for her privacy, we'll just leave it at that."