The US President, in a rare move, personally stepped in a missing-people case and publicly mobilized federal resources to aid in search, and what's more, he is helping someone who once openly clashed with him in an interview, making the case attract more attention.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday local time that he was mobilizing all available resources to aid in the search for Nancy Guthrie—mother of "Today" show anchor Savannah Guthrie—as the "desperate search" stretched into its fifth day by Thursday, with local and federal authorities continuing to investigate her possible abduction, according to media reports.

Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, on Sunday afternoon, after she did not show up at church, media revealed.

NBC News reported that the Pima County Sheriff's Department, leading the investigation, believes Nancy Guthrie was taken "possibly in the middle of the night, and that includes possible kidnapping or abduction." A little bit of blood found inside the home was being tested, a law enforcement source familiar with the case told CBS News.

In a post on Truth Social late Wednesday, Trump said: "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," NBC News reported Thursday.

"We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely," the president added. "The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family. GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!"

USA Today noted that Trump’s expression of sympathy toward Guthrie appeared somewhat "anomalous," given that Savannah Guthrie publicly clashed with the president during a contentious town hall interview in October 2020.

On Wednesday the White House also commented on the mother’s disappearance, writing: "The search for Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, is ongoing, and authorities are requesting assistance from the public. Anyone with information is urged to contact 911."

Savannah Guthrie, host of "Today" show on NBC, thanked Trump for taking the time to call her family, NBC News reported.

The sheriff said Monday it’s imperative she’s found soon because she could die without her medication, according to AP on Tuesday.

Investigators haven't identified a suspect or person of interest in the case, which is being investigated as a crime, CBS News reported.

Savannah Guthrie has withdrawn from her scheduled role co-hosting NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Italy to be with her family, NBC News reported.

Now the personal intervention by Trump on Wednesday adds a dramatic layer to a story already fraught with urgency. Trump’s very public mobilization of support stands in stark contrast to his historically adversarial relationship with Savannah Guthrie, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

According to the USA Today, Savannah Guthrie hosted a town hall with Trump in October 2020, the same night as then-candidate Joe Biden had a town hall with ABC News. Savannah Guthrie pressed Trump to answer questions about his health, his handling of the pandemic and more. During the interview, she pressed Trump at one point on his sharing conspiracy theories online by saying, "You're the president. You're not like someone's crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever."

Magazine Slate’s Molly Olmstead wrote that Guthrie gave Trump “one of the most intense grillings” since he took office.

At a rally days later following the interview, Trump said she was acting like a "crazed lunatic," and in a different rally had said he told her she did a good job with the interview, according to the report.

Some netizens gave their thumbs-up to president’s gesture. A netizen @_johnnymaga commented on X on Thursday, calling Trump’s effort to help “A total class act.”

But some commented with disagreement. "White liberal privilege hypocrisy! Savannah Guthrie's elderly mother is missing. With the huge search and national media attention, how many other missing seniors get this kind of attention?" @usmc0800 wrote on X.

“This past episode makes the president's current posture—of sympathetic champion and powerful ally in helping search Savannah Guthrie's mother —particularly noteworthy," Lü commented， noting that such high-level, personal intervention is exceptionally rare in missing-person cases.

Lü said the case itself possesses elements that have gripped the nation as the search continues with no suspect identified and the validity of purported ransom notes unconfirmed. As the expert notes, its resonance stems from multiple layers: the victim is the elderly mother of a prominent media figure; the circumstances are bizarre with no clear clues days after her disappearance from her Arizona home; More profoundly, the incident taps into underlying American anxieties—the vulnerabilities of seniors living alone and glaring gaps in public security.