Following the announcement that the Biden administration had proposed trading WNBA player Brittney Griner for a Russian arms dealer, former President Donald Trump has spoken up, calling Griner a "potentially spoiled person."
The U.S. is attempting to trade Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence, for Griner and Paul Whelan, a detained former marine.
While calling in for an interview on "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show," Trump shared his thoughts on the proposed deal, criticizing the basketball star for carrying cannabis oil.
"She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they're very vigilant about drugs. They don't like drugs," Trump said. "And she got caught. And now we're supposed to get her out – and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess – and we're supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world."
Griner was arrested in Russia in February, just before the nation began its invasion of Ukraine after cannabis oil was found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.
Griner's attorneys have argued that she had a prescription for medical marijuana for chronic pain. She has since pleaded guilty, however, to the drug-smuggling charges that were brought against her.
Bout, also known as the "Merchant of Death," on the other hand has been convicted on several charges, including conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and officials, and has also been accused of selling weapons to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the New York Times reported.
Trump shared in his interview that if Bout is released, then he will get a "free card" while the U.S. would "get her."
"She knew you don't go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it," Trump said. "I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is."
Trump continued, saying, "It certainly doesn't seem like a very good trade, does it? He's an absolute– one of the worst in the world, and he's going to be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs."
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