WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he had turned down a proposed one-for-one prisoner swap with Russia that would have brought Michigan's Paul Whelan home.
Trump also claimed on the social media platform Truth Social that "I would have gotten Paul out," but Whelan was arrested in late 2018, just halfway into Trump's term, and Whelan is still imprisoned in Russia after nearly four years.
Trump said the proposed deal that he rejected was for convicted Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout, whom President Joe Biden traded last week for the release and return of basketball player Brittney Griner.
