When United States President Joe Biden secured the release of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner with a prisoner swap that sent convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia, former United States President Donald Trump was extremely critical of the move, insisting that he would never have made that trade. But in a wild turn of events, Bout is now looking out for Trump.
This month, Viktor Bout claimed that he wired a telegram to Donald Trump in which he pleaded with the former president to move to Russia for his own protection, claiming that Trump’s “life is in peril.”
“The Biden administration will not stop just by dragging you through the court/prison industrial complex. They would sooner end your life than let you stand in their way,” Bout told Trump in the telegram, according to the Russian state media, via Yahoo! “You will be welcome in Russia. You will have safe haven, and from here you can lead the fight for the American people, the rebellion against globalists, and for the bright future of the planet.”
It’s certainly a wild update, given how much Trump pushed back against freeing Bout in the first place, and people had plenty to say about it on social media.
A home for Donald 👋 🇷🇺 https://t.co/DwjNTZdD4Z
— ECP408 (@ecp408) April 8, 2023
Crazy. https://t.co/1YM6Y3ZWaV
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) April 7, 2023
If additional indictments come, and especially some charging crimes with 20 year prison sentences, would it be that surprising if one morning the Trump 757 has disappeared from PBI and turns up that afternoon in Sochi? https://t.co/KzFlSAqTi2
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) April 8, 2023
Russian arms dealer and Lord of War Viktor Bout is filmed here offering Trump political asylum in Russia. https://t.co/Fn32D8N4Sx
— Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) April 7, 2023
Can't say I saw this coming. Just bizarre stuff… https://t.co/wiTjgaZsdI
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) April 7, 2023
In my fictional reimaginging of the Griner trade, the U.S. flipped Bout in prison just to get him to go home and do this. https://t.co/pITmgkqtpC
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) April 7, 2023
It’s safe to say that almost nobody expected this when Bout was traded for Griner just a few months ago.
[Yahoo!]
