‘Always An Embarrassment’: Trump Slams U.S. Negotiating Team That Freed WSJ Reporter From Russia

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Former President Donald Trump slammed the Biden administration’s negotiating team that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from Russia.

Gershkovich was released on Thursday along with more than a dozen other prisoners held captive by the Kremlin in the largest prisoner swap with the Kremlin since the Cold War. Multiple outlets reported that President Joe Biden negotiated the deal in the midst of deciding he would not run for a second term.

Trump, who has long criticized the Biden administration for their handling of Americans held captive in Russia, claimed the negotiation was an “embarrassment.” The former president also claimed that in the past he “got back many hostages” without giving concessions to the opposing country.

He wrote to his followers on Truth Social , “So when are they going to release the details of the prisoner swap with Russia? How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash? Are they giving us cash (Please withdraw that question, because I’m sure the answer is NO)? Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs? Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps.”

“Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us! I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING – and never any cash. To do so is bad precedent for the future. That’s the way it should be, or this situation will get worse and worse,” he added.

Gershkovich was released with other notable captives , including former Marine Paul Whelan and journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara Murza .

Trump concluded, “They are extorting the United States of America. They’re calling the trade ‘complex’ – That’s so nobody can figure out how bad it is!”