Former President Donald Trump is the latest notable U.S. figure to weigh in on the Biden regime’s proposed prisoner swap for WNBA player Brittney Griner, who has pledged guilty to a drug charge in Russia.
The administration is considering releasing a convicted terrorist known as the “Merchant of Death,” Viktor Bout, for Griner, who is known for trashing America and refusing to come out to the basketball court and stand for the National Anthem, as well as former Marine Paul Whelan.
But it was the “spoiled” Griner whom Trump addressed.
“She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs,” Trump said in an interview with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. “They don’t like drugs. And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out — and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. But we’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer, and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. Killed many Americans. Killed many people.”
“He’s gonna get a ‘free card.’ And we’re gonna get her. She knew — you don’t go in there loaded up with drugs. And she admitted it. I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is. And it certainly doesn’t seem like a very good trade, does it?” Trump added.
His remarks begin around the 7-minute mark:
Griner traveled to Russia in February to take part in off-season basketball play. She was detained at the airport in Moscow for allegedly being in possession of vape cartridges that contain hash oil in her baggage.
Griner, 31, has since entered a guilty plea on a drug charge and could face up to 10 years in jail.
Referring to the potential prisoner swap for Bout, Trump said he’s “one of the worst in the world, and he’s gonna be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs.”
Whelan has been held in a Russian labor camp for going on three years after being convicted of espionage.
“Russian officials have long pushed for the release of Bout, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in U.S. prison after being convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiracy to deliver anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding a terrorist organization,” Fox News reported.
“He was nabbed in 2008 in a sting operation at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with Drug Enforcement Administration informants who were posing as officials with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been classified by U.S. officials as a narco-terrorist group,” the outlet continued.
Regarding the potential swap, last week Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had put “a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago” for Griner and Whelan and that “our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal.”
“I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” he said.
