Trump congratulates Putin on ‘yet another great deal’ for recieving ‘some of the greatest killers anywhere’ in swap

By 
 August 5, 2024

In what was very likely meant to be a pointed jab at the current administration, former President Donald Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his recent prisoner exchange.

Trump was making reference to the exchange orchestrated by the administration of President Joe Biden that took place last week, as Mediaite reported.

Trump used his rally in Georgia on Saturday to deliver a message to Putin in an attempt to criticize Biden, who, at least for now, is still the head of the Democrat party.

The prisoner exchange between Russia and the United States, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Slovenia saw a number of operatives and American citizens make their way to their home countries.

Trump's Comments

During his address, Trump said, “I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal," as an aside during the rally.

“They released some of the greatest killers anywhere in the world, some of the most evil killers they got.

He went on to talk about some of the details of the deal, saying "Did you see the deal we made? … You know, we got 59 hostages. I never paid anything … And we got our people back, but, boy, we made some horrible, horrible deals. And it’s nice to say we got them back. But does that set a bad precedent?"

The Exchange

Eight prisoners from the participating nations were returned to Russia as part of the Biden administration's deal, which was the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.

In exchange, sixteen individuals who the Russians were holding on false charges were released. Among those individuals were journalist Evan Gershkovich and former United States Marine Paul Whelan.

Trump and other Republicans were quick to bash the deal – or credit it as a Trump win – right away on Thursday.

The Campaign

Since Biden's announcement last month, Trump has been faced with running against Vice President Kamala Harris, a candidate who has never successfully made it past the presidential primaries.

During Trump's first rally following Biden's end of his campaign, Trump dubbed his operate, " “Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” and painted her as a “radical liberal” whom he believes voters will not support in November, as CNN reported.

“Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe,” the former president told his supporters.

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