Former U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that during his time in the White House he rejected a deal to free former Marine Paul Whelan, detained in Moscow since 2018, in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
«I turned down a deal with Russia on a one-for-one exchange of the so-called ‘Merchant of Death’ for Paul Whelan. I would not have made the deal for a hundred people in exchange for someone who has killed untold numbers of people with his arms deals,» the former president said through a message on his social network, Truth Social.
Trump has made these statements after Bout was released last Thursday in an exchange for professional basketball player Brittney Griner, imprisoned for ten months on drug trafficking charges after cannabis oil was found during a search at the Moscow airport.
Bout, known as the ‘merchant of war’ for his involvement in arms trafficking, was arrested in Thailand in 2008 on U.S. orders and was serving a 25-year prison sentence until this week.
The White House offered to exchange the player and the former Marine — accused of espionage — for Bout. However, Whelan did not enter into the negotiations, since Moscow considers him to have a different status due to the accusations against him.
«Russia gave no other option, as it was put to us,» National Security Agency strategic communications officer John Kirby said Sunday. «There was only room to release Griner for Bout,» he explained in an interview with Fox News.
