Trump tweeted out his response Sunday.
President Trump is apparently miffed after the father of one of the UCLA basketball players imprisoned for allegedly shoplifting in China didn’t show gratitude after Trump claimed he helped free the three college students.
The president tweeted Sunday that he should have “left them in jail.”
Cody Riley, Jalen Hill, and LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball, were arrested by Chinese police two weeks ago after allegedly shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou.
After being put on house arrest, the teammates were allowed to leave the country last week after Trump asked Chinese president Xi Jinping to intervene, reports said.
However, the president was angered after Balls father, LaVar Ball, told ESPN Friday that Trump didn’t help out his son and his teammates.
“Don’t tell me nothing," he said in the interview. "Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
Trump initially tweeted on Wednesday, questioning whether the players would thank him for his actions.
“Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!” Trump wrote.
All three players did thank him at a press conference later that day. They all expressed their remorse as well and were suspended indefinitely.
Trump tweeted after the press conference that the boys should also thank the President Xi Jinping and to “be careful” in life.
