Donald Trump Calls LaVar Ball 'Ungrateful Fool,' 'Poor Man's Don King'

President Donald Trump attacked LaVar Ball early Wednesday after the father of UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball refused to thank the president for securing the release of his son from a prison in China. The president took to his Twitter account to call LaVar an "ungrateful fool" and a "poor man's Don King."

"It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long-term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King but without the hair. Just think..," Trump wrote. "...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!"

LiAngelo and two teammates were arrested in China earlier this month, after shoplifting from stores in Shanghai before the team’s season opener. The three freshman players were suspended for an indefinite period of time.

In a now-deleted tweet, Trump called a social media user "another crooked Hillary fan" after the user criticized the president for continuously demanding gratefulness for his action.

Last week, three players who were released from the prison thanked Trump for getting them home.

“I would like to thank President Trump and the United States government for the help they provided. I am grateful to be back home and I will never make a mistake like this again. I am extremely sorry for those that I let down,” LiAngelo Ball said in a statement.

This is not the first time Trump slammed LaVar for being ungrateful to him. On Sunday, remarked he should have left the three University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) players in jail.

"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!" Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday.