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Reuters
Mr. Brunson and his wife at the airport of the city of Izmir, in the west of the country
An American pastor is returning home from Turkey after more than two years of detention in a case that has damaged relations with the United States.
Andrew Brunson left the western city of Izmir on a US military plane bound for Germany, his lawyer said.
President Trump said in a tweet that Mr Brunson would visit the White House on Saturday after arriving in the United States.
Earlier, a Turkish court sentenced Mr Brunson to three years in prison – but released him because of the time he had already spent in detention.
He was arrested for alleged links with political groups, including the banned Gulenist movement, after a failed coup d'état attempt in 2016.
Additional espionage charges against him have been dropped.
Mr Trump thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his help in his release and insisted that no agreement had been reached with Turkey to allow his return.
What did Brunson say?
"This is the day our family prays, I'm delighted to be on my way back to the United States," Brunson said in a statement.
"My whole family thanks the president, the administration and the Congress for their unwavering support," he added.
Speaking to reporters in Cincinnati, Mr. Trump said he was "honored" to see Mr. Brunson return to the United States.
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EPA
Members of Mr. Brunson's church celebrated in front of his house after his release
"He suffered a lot but we are very grateful to a lot of people," he said.
Trump has denied reports in the US media that the United States has entered into an agreement with Turkey to lift the sanctions to secure Mr. Brunson's release.
What was he accused of?
Mr. Brunson has lived in Turkey with his wife and three children for more than 20 years. Most of them were working for the small resurrection church of Izmir, which had a congregation of about two dozen people.
He was arrested in October 2016. The authorities accused him of having links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulenist movement, illegal, which Turkey accuses of his coup d'etat. State of 2016. He was also sentenced to 35 years in prison for spying.
In July 2018, he was released from prison for health reasons and placed under house arrest until his trial. A few weeks later, the United States imposed sanctions on the judiciary and Turkish interior ministers for its continued detention.
Mr. Brunson and US officials insisted that he was innocent of all charges.
What happened in court?
Dressed in a black suit, a white shirt and a red tie, Mr. Brunson, one of 20 Americans charged after the coup attempt of State of 39, two years ago, told the court that he was "an innocent man".
"I love Jesus, I love Turkey," he said.
The pastor was found guilty of helping terrorist groups without being a member and sentenced to three years in prison. The court took into account the time he had already spent in detention, lifting his house arrest and prohibiting travel abroad.
When the verdict was read, he cried and hugged his wife Norine.
"The pressure was too strong"
By Mark Lowen, BBC correspondent in Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always insisted that he could not meddle with the judicial independence of Turkey and that only the courts would decide the fate of Pastor Brunson. But the World Economic Forum ranks Turkey 103rd out of 137 countries in the ranking of the independent judiciary and Turkey's observers knew it would always be a political decision.
In the end, the pressure exerted by Washington on Ankara was too strong. Sanctions, tariffs and the threat of additional sanctions had led US-Turkish relations to drift – and with them the Turkish lira. Faced with soaring inflation, with the 40% fall in the value of the currency and the beginning of an economic crisis, Turkey had to act to normalize its relations with the United States . Mr. Brunson was the key.
Andrew Brunson had the US government behind him. Deniz Yucel, the former correspondent of Die Welt, imprisoned and eventually released in Turkey, was supported by the German government. Tens of thousands of other people here who are clamoring for wrongful imprisonment do not have the support of a powerful state to resist what they say is the politicized judicial system of Turkey.
Why is it important?
The detention of Pastor Brunson has undermined the relations between Washington and Ankara, allied with NATO, both sides imposing sanctions.
President Recep Tayyip blames the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the coup attempt but Pennsylvania-based Mr. Gulen denies any involvement.
Turkey wants the United States to accept its extradition. US support for Kurdish forces fighting the Syrian civil war has also angered Erdogan, who sees them as an extension of the PKK.
The PKK – a Turkish-Kurdish rebel group fighting for autonomy since the 1980s – is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the United States.
But in recent weeks, Erdogan said he hoped to rebuild his relationship with Washington with "the spirit of strategic partnership."
More than 50,000 people were arrested in Turkey as part of President Erdogan's crackdown after the coup d'etat.
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