Former president donald trump has used the unfair detention of Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in Russia to criticize the President Joe Biden for failing to bring them home, especially during his re-election campaign.
And after Thursday historic prisoner exchange who released these men along with two other U.S. prisoners, the Republican Party presidential candidate continued to attack the administration with baseless speculation.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed on Thursday that there was no exchange of money or sanctions relief, but in a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump questioned that denial without offering details.
“Are we also paying cash? Are they giving us cash (please remove this question because I’m sure the answer is NO)?” he said.
MORE: How the Russian prisoner swap that freed Gershkovich and Whelan happened, officials say
Trump has repeatedly made false claims that the US gave Iran billions of dollars in cash.
“Just out of curiosity because we never make good deals, on anything, but especially in exchange for hostages. Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us!” he added in his social media post.
The former president repeated the false claims that money was involved in the deal during an interview on the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.”
When asked by a reporter about Trump’s repeated claims that he could have taken the hostages from Russia without concessions, Biden directly attacked his former political opponent.
“Why didn’t he do this when he was president?” Biden said.
Trump’s rhetoric about detained Americans has been part of the constant back and forth since his term in office, and has sometimes provoked the anger of hostages’ families.
Although members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, criticized the spying allegations against Whelan after he was arrested in 2018, Trump did not publicly mention Whelan by name while in office.
David Whelan, Paul Whelan’s brother, said in a statement Thursday that his family was “discouraged from talking about Paul’s case.”
“Those early years were difficult, when the Trump administration ignored Paul’s unjust detention, and it was the media attention that helped to finally create critical mass and awareness within the US government,” he said.
During his trial, Paul Whelan, who met with US officials during his case, appealed directly to Trump for help.
MORE: Paul Whelan, ex-marine detained as spy in Moscow, begs Trump for help
“Mr. President, we cannot keep America great unless we aggressively protect and defend Americans wherever they are in the world,” he said in prepared remarks in June 2019.
Trump would only mention Whelan by name in a Truth Social post condemning Biden for organizing a prisoner transfer that freed the American basketball player Brittney Griner from Russian custody in December 2022.
“Why was former Marine Paul Whelan not included in this completely one-sided transaction? Trump said in his post.
The US traded Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner as part of that swap. After the exchange, Trump stated that he was working on a deal for Whelan that involved Bout.
“I turned down a deal with Russia for a one-on-one exchange of the so-called Death Merchant for Paul Whelan. I wouldn’t have made the deal for a hundred people in exchange for someone who killed a countless number of people. people with their gun deals,” he said.
David Whelan took aim at the former president because of his statements on social media, in a post on X.
“Former President Trump appears to have mentioned the wrongful detention of my brother #PaulWhelan more in the last 24 hours than in the 2 years of his presidency that Paul was held hostage by #Russia (zero). now more than before (zero),” said David Whelan in the December 2022 post.
Trump did not comment on Gershkovich’s situation until a April 12, 2024 interview with Time Magazine, more than a year after his arrest on March 29, 2023.
MORE: Russia frees Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan in historic multi-country prisoner swap
“The reporter should be released and will be released,” Trump said, without referring to Gershkovich by name. “I don’t know if he will be released under Biden.”
In a May Truth Social post, Trump stated that Gershkovich “will be released almost immediately after the election, but definitely before I take office.”
“Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do this for me, but not for anyone else,” he said in his post.
Trump’s attacks on Biden over the hostages came up again during the June presidential debate. He again stated that he would remove Gershkovich if he were elected, arguing that “Putin is laughing at [Biden]probably asking the reporter for billions of dollars.”
“He should have taken it down a long time ago. But Putin is probably asking for billions and billions of dollars because this guy always pays,” Trump said of Biden.
Trump did not directly name Gershkovich during the debate.
Trump attacks Biden over historic prisoner swap that freed Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich originally appeared in abcnews.go.com
