Donald Trump once spurned deal to swap Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan, trolls say 'trade Trump for Whelan'

Donald Trump once spurned deal to swap Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan, trolls say 'trade Trump for Whelan'
Donald Trump reportedly turned down a deal to trade Viktor Bout (inset) for Paul Whelan (R) earlier (Chet Strange/Getty Images, Abc23 screenshot/ YouTube, Chumsak Kanoknan/ Getty Images)

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed on Thursday, December 8, in a CBS interview that former POTUS Donald Trump has turned down the attempts by Russia to trade Paul Whelan for “Merchant of Death” arms dealer Viktor Bout.

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“The possibility of a Bout-for-Whelan trade existed back then. And it wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout,” Bolton told CBS. The former security officer, Whelan, was sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison. Meanwhile, the US authorities have claimed that the president's administration wanted to secure the release of both Whelan and Griner. However, Moscow rejected the same.