Trump Tweets Against LaVar Ball, Says Should Have Left LiAngelo In Jail

Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday and remarked he should have left the three University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) players — who were arrested for shoplifting in China — in jail, after one of the parents of the players underplayed the President’s role in bringing them back.

LaVar Ball, father of the player LiAngelo Ball, according to an ESPN report said, “Who?” when asked about Trump’s involvement in bringing his son back.

He went on to add, “What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out. … I'm happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. ”

He added he is “fine” as long as his son is back. He went on to defend his son’s actions in China by saying, “My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn't define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that's a different thing.”

However, this did not sit well with the United States’ President. Responding to Ball's statements, Trump tweeted saying the father of LiAngelo Ball was “unaccepting” of his actions and he should have “left them in jail.”

In another tweet, Trump described the seriousness of a crime like shoplifting in China and that it merits five to ten years in jail. He added he should have worked towards the release of LiAngelo Ball during his next trip to China.

Amidst all this, the White House Director of Social Media and assistant to the President, Dan Scavino Jr. also tweeted supporting Trump and called Ball a “BIG MOUTH” and that his son would have been in China for a long time if it wasn’t for Trump’s help.

However, Ball did not directly reply to any of Trump’s tweets but reportedly talked to an ABC segment producer Micheal Del Moro, who tweeted saying Ball didn’t want to get into a “back-and-forth” with the President and he would thank Trump if he had visited the players in jail.

LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were arrested in China on Nov. 7 for allegedly shoplifting, during a team trip to the country. The three freshman players were suspended for an indefinite period of time, the New York Times reported.

UCLA coach, Steve Alford said, after the incident, “They will have to earn their way back.”

As Trump’s trip to Asia coincided with the incident, the President personally asked the Chinese President Xi Jinping to look into the shoplifting case, CNN reported.

The three players thanked Trump for getting them home, according to a report by the New York Post.

“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.

Trump, however, had tweeted the same day earlier wondering if the three players will thank him for what he has done.