Donald Trump Says He 'Turned Down Deal' of Paul Whelan for Viktor Bout

The prisoner swap of American women's basketball player Brittney Griner for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has spearheaded news this week. This is while the fate of U.S. Marine Paul Whelan's life as a prisoner of Russia weighs in the balance.

The Griner-Bout swap has become yet another political divide among American politicians, particularly with former President Donald Trump, who's already stated he intends to run in 2024 for another presidential term.

Trump on his social media account said he previously had a chance to swap Whelan for Bout, who's more notably recognized as the "Merchant of Death." Trump made a statement to his Truth Social account Sunday night.

"I turned down a deal with Russia for a one-on-one swap of the so-called Merchant of Death for Paul Whelan. I wouldn't have made the deal for a hundred people in exchange for someone that has killed untold numbers of people with his arms deals. I would have gotten Paul out, however, just as I did with a record number of other hostages."

Trump said the Griner one-to-one deal was "crazy and bad" and that, if the scenario had happened during his administration, it would have happened "fast."

"The deal for Griner is crazy and bad," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The taking wouldn't have even happened during my Administration, but if it did, I would have gotten her out, fast!"

Just one week before Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Griner was in the WNBA off-season and returning to Russia when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki. She was accused of possessing vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia.

Griner was detained in Russia as President Joe Biden's administration claimed to intervene in her process. After a month into her trial, Griner wrote a letter to Biden asking for help, saying she feared to "be here forever."

"As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I'm terrified I might be here forever," Griner wrote to Biden. "It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate [the Fourth of July] because freedom means something completely different to me this year."

On July 29, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he'd had conversations with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about a prisoner swap of Bout for both Griner and Whelan.

"I pressed the Kremlin to accept the substantial proposal that we put forth on the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner," Blinken said. "I'm not going to characterize his responses and I can't give you an assessment of whether I think things are more or less likely, but it was important that [he] hear directly from me on that."

The Biden administration continued making Griner's release a priority, maybe because of pressure from the extreme left wing of the Democrat Party.

Griner was released last week in a prisoner swap for Bout, all while Whalen remains in a Russian prison.