Trump, Republicans React To Brittney Griner's Release: 'A Very Bad Mistake'

Republican personalities, including former President Donald Trump, reacted to the release of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player and two-time Olympic champion Brittney Griner by Russia through a prisoner swap.

Griner spent more than nine months detained in Russia on a drug possession offense before being released Thursday in a prisoner swap in exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

On his Truth Social account Thursday, Trump lambasted the Biden administration's deal with Russia, calling it a "stupid and unpatriotic embarrassment" for the U.S.

"What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our country, for the man known as 'The Merchant of Death,' who is one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the world, and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries," Trump wrote in his post, Reuters reported.

"Why wasn't former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction?" the former president continued. "He would have been let out for the asking. What a 'stupid' and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!"

John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, echoed the former president's sentiment, saying the prisoner swap was "a very bad mistake" and would embolden terrorists.

"This is a very bad mistake by the Biden administration. This is not a deal. This is not a swap. This is a surrender. Terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this, and it endangers other Americans in the future who can be grabbed and used as bargaining chips by people who don't have the same morals and scruples that we do," Bolton said in an interview with CBS.

Bolton also revealed that Trump previously turned down the Kremlin's offer to trade Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony on espionage charges, with Bout. Whelan has consistently and vehemently denied the espionage charges.

Bolton noted that the former president didn't approve the deal in the past because of the magnitude of Bout's crime.

The former Trump adviser called Griner's crime of bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil to Russia "very foolish," compared to Bout, who was convicted by the U.S. of conspiracy to kill American citizens by supplying a Colombian terrorist group with weapons.

Bolton believed the prisoner swap deal was "a huge victory for Moscow over Washington," the New York Post reported.

Other GOP personalities also claimed that Whelan should have been included in the deal with Russia.

Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger wrote on Twitter that the former marine "may not be high profile" but that he believed a swap for the Russian arms dealer was "worth two innocent people."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also called out the Biden administration for swapping Bout, one of the "truly bad individuals who belong behind bars."

Idaho Sen. Jim Risch believed that Whelan should have been part of the prisoner swap, calling him a "hero."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also shared his disappointment over Whelan's non-release. Blinken said that despite their efforts, the Russian government "has not yet been willing" to end the former Marine's wrongful detention.

"We will not cease in our efforts until Paul Whelan is back with his family, too," he tweeted.

David Whelan, Paul's brother, said the government informed them in advance that his brother would not be part of the deal. He said their family had time to prepare for "what is now a public disappointment for us."