Trump complains the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players who were arrested in China for shoplifting had played down his role in winning their release. “I should have left them in jail!” the president tweets.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump complained Sunday that the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players arrested in China for shoplifting had played down his role in winning their release and that he therefore should not have interceded with China’s president.
“I should have left them in jail!” he tweeted.
Trump’s tweet drew a quick backlash on social media. Many expressed incredulity that a sitting U.S. president would publicly regret having come to the aid of American citizens being held by an authoritarian government.
Rep. Adam Schiff, DCalif., tweeted back, “How can someone in such a big office be so small?
Sports website Deadspin headlined its account of the presidential tweet: “Donald Trump Wishes He’d Left UCLA Teens in Chinese Prison Because His Feelings Are Hurt.”
The release of the three players represented one of the most tangible achievements of Trump’s 12-day visit to five countries in Asia this month.
But the quick resolution of what could have been a drawn-out diplomatic incident over the arrests swiftly took on sour overtones as the president prodded the three UCLA athletes to express their gratitude.
After they publicly expressed thanks, Trump appeared to consider the matter closed, tweeting that he hoped they would have a “great life” and be careful of their actions in the future.
But on Sunday, Trump appeared irate that the father of one of the players, LiAngelo Ball, had played down his involvement in an interview with ESPN.
“Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out,” LaVar Ball told the sports channel on Friday when asked about Trump claiming credit for raising the arrests with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump said in his tweet that the players had been saved from “years in jail.” He also accused the elder Ball of saying that “shoplifting is no big deal.”
LiAngelo Ball, along with fellow freshmen Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, is on indefinite suspension from the Bruins basketball team.
Chinese authorities took the three into custody after they were questioned, and their luggage was searched, for designer sunglasses and other goods allegedly stolen from three stores near their hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins were staying prior to a game in Shanghai against Georgia Tech.