Donald Trump Jr. criticized Biden for Securing ‘America Hating’ Griner’s Release

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Donald Trump Jr. criticized on Thursday President Joe Biden for helping secure the release of WNBA player Brittney Griner from a Russian prison.

“No one cut a better deal than Biden. We get a terrible America Hating WNBA player, while Russia gets AN INTERNATIONAL ARMS DEALER!!! The old men are back!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform founded by his father, former President Donald Trump.

Biden posted a photo Thursday morning of himself with Cherelle Griner, the WNBA star’s wife. He wrote, “I just talked to Brittney Griner. She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home.”

Griner has been in custody in Russia for 10 months after he was arrested for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil at a Moscow airport in February. The Phoenix Mercury traveled to Russia during the WNBA off season to play in a professional league there.

In August, a Russian court found him guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent by a Russian court on Thursday. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 1 million rubles (approximately $16,000 USD).

In this split image, Brittney Griner (L) is seen at a court hearing outside Moscow on August 4, 2022. At right, Donald Trump Jr. is seen. at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit held at the Tampa Convention Center on July 23, 2022, in Tampa, Florida. Trump blasted President Joe Biden over Griner’s “Merchant of Death” exchange. AFP via Getty Images/Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Griner’s release was the result of a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” who was imprisoned in the United States. Paul Whelan, a former US Marine imprisoned in Russia, was not part of the deal that resulted in Griner’s release despite efforts by the Biden administration to make him part of the exchange.

Trump Jr. denounced the trade involving Bout in another Truth Social post.

“You know how to be sure [Russian President Vladimir] Putin continues to arrest Americans and punish them severely?” Trump wrote. “Swap him for an arms dealer aka ‘The Merchant of Death’ for someone guilty of conspiring to kill Americans and aiding a terrorist organization for an America Hating WNBA activist.”

He continued, “Great trade! The weakness and stupidity of our government will only encourage the abuse of American citizens abroad.”

In July, former President Trump spoke out against Bout’s proposed exchange plan for Griner and Whelan. In an appearance on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show podcast, Trump called the WNBA star “spoiled” while identifying Bout as dangerous.

“We should bring him out for a total killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. Killed a lot of Americans. Killed a lot of people. And he’s going to get a free card and we’re going to get him,” Trump said. “He is really one of the worst in the world, and he will be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person will go to Russia full of drugs.”

Bout was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the United States in 2010 to stand trial on terrorism charges. In 2011, he was convicted of conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials and of selling millions of dollars worth of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Newsweek reached out to Donald Trump Jr. for comment.

Update 12/08/22, 10:25 am ET: This story has been updated with background information.

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