Report: Trump had no influence on release of UCLA players in China
President Donald Trump's contention that he helped get then-UCLA guard LiAngelo Ball and two Bruins teammates released from a Chinese jail is inaccurate, according to a new report by ESPN's Arash Markazi.
Last November's fiasco in which the three UCLA players were held in custody after being accused of shoplifting in Hangzhou, China, ended with Trump taking credit for their release into house arrest, suggesting the trio could have been headed for a decade in prison otherwise.
Not so, per Markazi:
(On Nov. 12) Trump first found out about the situation, according to The New York Times, when members of his staff saw it on CNN just before Trump's dinner with the president of China, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Thursday. Trump would later tell reporters on Tuesday, Nov. 14, that he first heard about the situation "two days ago," at which point he personally asked the Chinese president to look into the matter. The White House did not respond to requests to clear up the timeline, but UCLA sources say they didn't become aware of Trump's involvement until Sunday when White House chief of staff John Kelly called the players to say that Trump was intervening on their behalf and that he was optimistic of a quick resolution. A Pac-12 source, who was not present for the actual call from Kelly, confirmed the UCLA sources' description of the timeline.
"The situation was already resolved by the time we heard about Trump's involvement," one team source said. "That's not to take away from the fact that he got involved, but the players already had their passports back and their flights booked to go home Tuesday night when Gen. Kelly called the players."
Kelly told the New York Times in November that Trump's actions with Xi led to the reduction of charges for Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill. However, a source told Markazi that the players were already back at their hotel before the U.S. public discovered they were arrested and that there was no house arrest dictated by Chinese authorities.
"It was our decision to keep them at the hotel until the situation was resolved," the source said.
The latest news may possibly explain the war of words between LaVar Ball and Trump in the wake of the drama, with Ball dismissing the commander-in-chief's contributions.