HELSINKI, FINLAND - JULY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a joint press conference after their summit on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. The two leaders met one-on-one and discussed a range of issues including the 2016 U.S Election collusion. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Donald Trump has claimed that he will use his “great” relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure the release of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump said, “Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who Russia is holding, will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office. He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY.”
Gershkovich was arrested in Russia in March last year on spying charges. He has spent more than a year in a Moscow prison, with no date set for a trial. The Biden administration and the Wall Street Journal strongly deny the spying charges. U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy has visited the journalist in detention and reported that he remains in a “positive mood” as he awaits a trial for a crime he did not commit.
Trump claimed, “Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!”
This assertion has been met with widespread skepticism. The Biden campaign dismissed Trump’s claims and accused Trump of using wrongfully imprisoned Americans as “political props.” Adviser TJ Ducklo wrote in an email, “Trump has called journalists ‘enemies of the people’ and pledged to imprison reporters whose coverage he doesn’t like – not all that dissimilar to what’s happening right now to Evan Gershkovich in Russia.”
Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was detained in Russia from 2019 to 2022, posted on X,
“As a former wrongful detainee in Russia, I would just like to remind everyone that President Trump could get myself and Paul Whelan out of Russia for years and chose not to. I would be skeptical of any claims about getting Evan Gershkovich back in a day.”
The Kremlin also refuted Trump’s assertions. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin has “naturally not had contacts with Donald Trump” regarding Gershkovich’s case. This contradicts the former president’s implication of ongoing negotiations with the Russian leader.
The case of Gershkovich has drawn attention to the complex and often fraught relationship between the United States and Russia. While the Biden administration has made the journalist’s release a top priority, Trump’s claims of imminent action have been met with skepticism and accusations of political grandstanding.
Putin said in February that it might be possible to free Gershkovich in exchange for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for murder.
Putin ranted about Gershkovich during a softball interview with right-wing TV personality Tucker Carlson.
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called Trump’s admiration for Putin “really creepy.”
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