White House and Trump on Release of Paul Whelan
We ran the numbers:
There are 1,184 news articles covering this topic.
57% (675) are left-leaning, 24% (281) are centrist, and 19% (228) are right-leaning.
Former President Donald Trump revealed on Monday that during his time as president, he refused a deal to exchange former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2018, for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Left-leaning articles highlight that the White House is planning to convene to discuss securing Whelan’s release, while right-leaning articles highlight that Whelan’s brother slammed Trump for criticizing the recent prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia as “unpatriotic.”
The Hill published a centrist article reporting that Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday revealing that he turned down a prisoner swap deal as president to exchange a former U.S. Marine detained in Moscow for over three years for Bout—who was released to Russia last week in exchange for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner to the U.S. It reported that Trump criticized the aforementioned deal, saying that he “would have gotten Paul out” without explaining why he did or could not.
A left-leaning article by CBS News highlighted that the White House administration met Monday to discuss next steps in securing the release of Whelan. It reported that Whelan is currently being held on espionage charges and is serving a 16-year sentence. It highlighted that attention is being paid to Whelan’s case following the prisoner swap that secured basketball star Griner earlier this month.
A right-leaning article by Fox News highlighted that Whelan’s brother, David Whelan, slammed Trump after his posts on Truth Social for his attitude towards the prisoner swap that brought home Griner. David Whelan emphasized that he was disappointed in Trump for criticizing a deal to secure the release of “an American who was in peril.”
From the right
Trump says he 'turned down a deal' with Russia to exchange Viktor Bout for Paul Whelan
Fox News