Former President Trump has demanded more details about Thursday’s major prisoner swap that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from Russian custody.
Trump responded to the news by bragging about his prisoner swap record in a post. The truth of societyAt the same time, he questioned whether the United States had previously provided cash in exchange for detained Americans.
“So when will details of prisoner exchange with Russia be announced? How many prisoners will we get? Will we also pay them cash? Will they give us cash (please drop this question I’m sure the answer is no),” the former president asked in the post.
“Are we going to release a murderer, a killer or a thug? I’m just curious because we never make a good deal on anything, especially when it comes to hostage exchanges,” Trump added.
The former president went on to say that giving cash to enemy countries “sets a bad precedent for the future.”
“They are blackmailing the United States of America. They call trade ‘complicated’ so no one can see how bad it is!” he wrote.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan denied that notion at a White House briefing on Thursday, saying no money was changing hands and no sanctions were being eased as part of the agreement.
President Biden announced on Thursday that Gershkovich and Whelan had been released, along with Ars Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, as part of the largest prisoner swap with Russia since the Cold War. Five Germans and seven Russians who were being held as political prisoners were also released.
Trump has frequently criticized Biden over the detention of Americans in Russia and predicted the president would not be able to secure the release of Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for more than a year.
Reporters on Thursday asked Biden about Trump’s suggestion that he would send detainees home without giving them anything in return.
“Why didn’t you do that when you were president?” Biden responded.
