Donald Trump Says He ‘Turned Down Deal’ of Paul Whelan for Viktor Bout
Donald Trump Says He ‘Turned Down Deal’ of Paul Whelan for Viktor Bout
The prisoner swap of convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bouterer with American women’s basketball player Brittney Griner has drawn widespread media attention this week. The fate of US Marine Paul Whelan’s life as a prisoner of Russia now hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, the Greener-Bout swap has become another political divide among American politicians. Griner-Bout has said she wants to run for another presidential term with Donald Trump in 2024.
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President Donald Trump said on his social media account, “He previously had the opportunity to swap Whelan, who is more prominently known as the “merchant of death,” for Bout.”
President Trump also said in a statement on his Truth social account Sunday night, “I turned down a deal with Russia to swap the so-called merchant of death one-for-one for Paul Whelan. I couldn’t make a deal for a hundred people for someone who killed countless people.” Did. The man deals with his weapons. I would have taken Paul out, as I have done with a record number of other hostages.”
Trump added that Greener’s one-to-one deal was “crazy and bad” and that if this scenario had happened during his administration, it would have happened faster.
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“The deal is crazy and bad for Greener. “The regulation wouldn’t have happened during my administration, but if it had, I would have fired him fast!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Griner was detained in Russia after President Joe Biden’s administration claimed it was interfering with his proceedings. A month after the trial, Griner wrote a letter to Biden. He asked Biden for help, saying, “He’s afraid to be here forever.”
“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any accomplishments, I fear I may be here forever,” Griner wrote to Biden. “It’s hard to think of how I usually celebrate [the Fourth of July] because this year freedom means something completely different to me.”
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In addition, Bilkent said, “I pressed the Kremlin to accept the significant offer we made regarding the release of Paul Whelan and Brittany Griner.” “I’m not going to characterize his responses and I can’t give you an assessment of whether things are more or less likely to happen I think, but it was important that [he] hear from me directly about it.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to prioritize Greener’s release, likely due to pressure from the far left of the Democratic Party.
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While Whalen is in a Russian prison, Griner was released last week in a prisoner swap for the bout.