Trump says swapping Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer ‘doesn’t seem like a very good trade’

Former President Donald Trump has hit out at a possible swap deal to bring WNBA player Brittney Griner back to the USA in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Bout is currently serving a 25-year sentence.

Trump commented on the matter when he went on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.”

“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.”

“He’s going to get a free card, and we’re gonna get her,” Trump said. “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.”

The former president added: “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.”

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has said that bringing home Griner and other foreign detainees was the “highest priority.” Harris spoke about Griner earlier in July during an appearance on Face the Nation.

“President and I and Jake Sullivan and others have been in touch with Cherelle Griner, Brittany Griner’s wife, to do what we can to lend support,” Harris said at the time. “I can’t talk to you about the details, what’s happening behind the scenes, but I can tell you that it is one of our highest priorities to bring these Americans home.”

The White House also issued a statement to confirm they are working on the case. “The President called Cherelle (Griner’s wife) to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” the statement read.

Griner was arrested in February after cannabis oil was found in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. Griner, who faces 10 years in prison, pleaded guilty earlier this month. Her legal team said her guilty plea was to “take full responsibility for her actions.”