Trump calls US-Russia prisoner swap ‘win for Putin’

Former US president Donald Trump said yesterday the prisoner swap between the United States and Russia was a “win” for President Vladimir Putin as he continued to offer baseless speculation over the details of the agreement.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, two other Americans and a green card holder are back in the United States after being freed by Putin as part of a massive, multi-country East-West prisoner exchange.
Trump  set out in an interview with Fox Business why the exchange was bad news for America as he sought to downplay President Joe Biden’s success in securing the deal. “The Russians made a great deal. I’m not going to criticize it, because it’s good to have them home, but they got a phenomenal deal, and that sets a very bad precedent,” he said, calling it a “win for Putin.”
Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, along with legal permanent resident Vladimir Kara-Murza, were among 16 prisoners released by Russia.