UCLA players thank Trump for his help securing their release from China

The three UCLA men's basketball players accused of shoplifting during a team trip to China thanked President Donald Trump Wednesday for his help in securing their return to the U.S., hours after the president wondered online whether such a thank-you would be forthcoming from the athletes.

"To President Trump and the United States government, thank you for taking the time to intervene on our behalf. We really appreciate you helping us out," Cody Riley, one of the three UCLA players, said at a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.


LiAngelo Ball, another of the players, said he "would also like to thank President Trump and the United States government for the help that they provided," and Jalen Hill, the third involved player, said, "Thank you to the United States government and President Trump for your efforts to bring us home."

Earlier Wednesday, Trump implied on his Twitter account that his intervention had helped the three basketball players avoid significant jail time in China, questioning whether he would be thanked by Riley, Ball and Hill for his efforts.

"Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!" the president tweeted Wednesday morning.

The three UCLA freshmen were arrested last week after being charged with stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store near their hotel in Hangzhou, where they awaited a tournament in Shanghai. Riley and Hill, both forwards, along with Ball, a guard and the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, did not play in their season opening game against Georgia Tech on Saturday, but were released on Tuesday by Chinese authorities after remaining secluded in their hotel over the weekend.

The arrests occurred on the eve of Trump's two-day diplomatic trip to Beijing, where he reportedly spoke Chinese President Xi Jinping personally about the matter. “They’re working on it right now,” Trump told reporters of the incident, according to the Washington Post.

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Larry Scott, commissioner of the Pacific-12 athletic conference, thanked the president and his administration for the players' release in a statement.

"We are grateful for the role that our Chinese hosts played, and for the courtesy and professionalism of the local authorities," Scott said Tuesday. "We also want to acknowledge UCLA's significant efforts on behalf of their student-athletes."

He added: "Finally, we want to thank the President, the White House and the US State Department for their efforts towards resolution."

