Trump calls father of free player an ‘ungrateful fool’

PALM BEACH, Fla, Nov 22, (AP): President Donald Trump started off his first day of Thanksgiving vacation Wednesday by resuming his taunts of the father of a UCLA basketball player detained for shoplifting in China, calling him an “ungrateful fool.”

In a series of tweets fired off before dawn, the president complained yet again that LaVar Ball, father of LiAngelo Ball, hasn’t given him credit for the release of his son and two other UCLA basketball players from detention in China after they were detained on shoplifting allegations while in China for a basketball game.

Tweeting from his Florida vacation home, Trump said: “It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence — IT WAS ME.”

“Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair,” he said, referencing the flamboyant boxing promoter whom Trump once saluted as “a phenomenal person” despite a conviction for manslaughter.

Trump also warned that Ball “could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you” had it not been for his intervention.

“But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China,” he wrote.

The president also retweeted a post from one of his followers who echoed the sentiment: “The ungratefulness is something I’ve never seen before. If you get someone’s son out of prison, he should be grateful to you. Period. I don’t care. If Hillary got my kid out of prison, as much as I hate the woman, I’d thank her corrupt ass.”

LiAngelo Ball and two UCLA teammates were released after a brief detention in China while Trump was visiting the country. Trump has taken credit for the release, saying he discussed the situation with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.