Disgraced, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump is absolutely furious that President Joe Biden was able to obtain the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner (in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout), and for the past two days has whined that the Biden administration should have prioritized former Marine Paul Whelan (who is also being held in Russia) over Griner.
Of course, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Trump would think Whelan is more valuable than Griner. After all, Whelan is a white man and Griner is a black woman.
According to Trump, he was able to get 58 hostages released while he was president, posting an angry message on his failing Truth Social site in which he wrote:
What Trump conveniently forgot to mention is that he had a chance to get the Whelan released back in 2018 but refused, according to his former national security adviser, John Bolton.
The Independent reports:
Mr Bolton, who was the national security adviser under Mr Trump for 17 months from 2018 to 2019, told CBS that the Trump administration had the opportunity to trade Mr Whelan for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2018.
“The possibility of a Bout-for-Whelan trade existed back then and it wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout,” he said.
It should also be noted that Whelan’s family is disgusted by Trump’s churlish posting, with his brother, David, posting on Twitter:
Former President Trump appears to have mentioned my brother #PaulWhelan’s wrongful detention more in the last 24 hours than he did in the 2 years of his presidency in which Paul was held hostage by #Russia (zero). I don’t suggest he cares now any more than he did then (zero)
Trump doesn’t give a diddly damn about Paul Whelan. If he did, he would have made a deal four years ago and gotten him home. Instead, he’d rather try and make political hay now and pretend it’s not his fault that Whelan is still in a Russian prison.
Donald Trump is a coward, a liar, and the worst president in U.S. history. His attempts to refurbish his self-sullied reputation are little more than the rantings of a man who is losing what’s left of his demented and diseased mind.
