US president attacks father of one of three UCLA players arrested for shoplifting in China, after he questioned Trump’s role in resolving the matter

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Days after claiming credit for ensuring that three UCLA college basketball players were released after being arrested for shoplifting in China, Donald Trump tweeted that “I should have left them in jail!”

The US president lashed out at LaVar Ball, the father of one of the arrested players, for questioning how instrumental the president was in resolving the incident.

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Asked on ESPN Friday about Trump’s role in getting his son and two other players home, Ball said, “Who?”

“What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out,” Ball said.

In response to an American father being “unaccepting of what I did for his son”, Trump tweeted that he should have left the three college students in jail in China.

Trump had previously tweeted that he wondered if the three players would thank him, saying that they “were headed for 10 years in jail!”

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!

Although the three players, LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, were detained and questioned by police, they were never actually put in jail. Upon returning to the US, they were suspended indefinitely from the UCLA team. At a press conference this week, the players apologized and thanked the president.



“A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there,” Ball had said on ESPN Friday. He defended his son, saying, “I’ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn’t define him.”

Ball is known for promoting his children’s careers: his eldest son, Lonzo, was drafted No2 overall by the LA Lakers this year. Rather than sign a multimillion-dollar contract with Nike, Adidas or Under Armour, LaVar released Lonzo’s signature shoe through his Big Baller Brand, with the sneakers retailing at up to $495.

Trump’s social media director, Dan Scavino, attacked Ball for those remarks on Saturday, tweeting on his personal account, “if it weren’t for President @realDonaldTrump, his son would be in China for a long, long, long time!”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest LiAngelo Ball (right) was one of the players detained in China. Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The president’s Twitter feed followed with a tweet criticizing Ball early on Sunday afternoon. Trump has previously used his Twitter account to attack black athletes who protested about police brutality against black Americans by kneeling during the national anthem.

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Last month, Trump used his official account to attack ESPN’s Jemele Hill, a prominent black sports commenter who has called the president a “bigot” and “a white supremacist”.

“With Jemele Hill at the mike, it is no wonder ESPN ratings have ‘tanked,’ in fact, tanked so badly it is the talk of the industry!” the president tweeted.

The White House press secretary had previously called on Hill to be fired for her criticism of the president.