Trump fires back at LaVar Ball: ‘I should have left them in jail!’

Another week, another day of Trump feuding with someone on Twitter.

After former NBA star LaVar Ball downplayed President Donald Trump‘s role in his son’s release from Chinese custody over an alleged shoplifting, the leader of the free world says he should have left him and his two teammates in jail.

“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!” Trump tweeted on Sunday.

–Trump thinks he deserves ‘thank you’ for China release of UCLA players–

“Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!”

Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2017

Trump’s tweets followed LaVar Ball’s comments on Friday, in which he all but acknowledged reports indicating the president played a diplomatic role, during his visit to China, in the release of UCLA freshman basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley.

“Who?” LaVar Ball told ESPN when asked about Trump. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.

“As long as my boy’s back here, I’m fine,” Ball said. “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. Like I told him, ‘They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.’

“I’m from L.A. I’ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. 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,” Ball added.

“Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That’s not me. I handle what’s going on and then we go from there.”

Trump’s war of words with Ball comes after he took to Twitter last week to take credit for the college players’ release and return to the United States.

“Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!” Trump tweeted on last Wednesday.

The three young college freshman were accused of swiping sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store. After being arrested, they were held inside their hotel room and was not allowed to leave.

During his 12-day stay in China, Trump reportedly reached out to Chinese officials to help get the three American players home.