CHINA/CRIME/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Donald Trump on Sunday [11-19-17] said he should have left three college basketball players in a Chinese jail, after the father of one of the players minimized the U.S. president’s role in securing their release…
Later on Sunday, Mr. Trump tweeted that he ‘should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead.’…
Three University of California at Los Angeles basketball players were freed from custody in China last week after being accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton boutique at a mall near their luxury hotel. Mr. Trump said he intervened with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to secure their release, and later said the three young men should thank him.
On Friday, the elder Mr. Ball played down Mr. Trump’s role in the players’ release, in an interview on ESPN…
The players themselves— LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, all freshmen—have apologized for their conduct on the team trip and thanked both U.S. and Chinese authorities for helping secure their release. Had they been convicted, they could have been sentenced to 10 years in Chinese prison. The players have been suspended indefinitely from the team.”
-Gabriel T. Rubin, “Trump Says He Should Have Left UCLA Players in Chinese Jail,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 19, 2017 07:03pm