Trump did nothing.
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Okay. What did Trump do?
I posted this yesterday to someone else, but it applies here:
“I challenge you to find and post up here anything Trump had to say about Paul Whelan during his presidency other than “Yeah, we’re looking into that”.
Trump stated that in response to a reporter’s shouted question as he was boarding Marine One, a couple days after Whelan was first arrested.
Detroit Free Press in 2019:
A Trump administration official said Thursday afternoon that it “has been and continues to be actively engaged with Paul Whelan’s case,” pointing to Bolton’s meeting with Elizabeth Whelan and his tweet.
A State Department official told the Free Press that consular officers were at Whelan’s hearing Thursday, too.
“We will continue to monitor Mr. Whelan’s case closely and to press for fair and humane treatment, due process, and access to appropriate medical care,” a State Department spokesman said. “We take allegations of mistreatment seriously, and will continue to raise Mr. Whelan’s case at every opportunity. The department has no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. We urge the Russian government to guarantee a fair and transparent judicial process without undue delay, in accordance with its international legal obligations.
“The department remains in regular contact with the Whelan family. On June 13, Consular officials conducted the embassy’s ninth prison visit to Mr. Whelan since he was first detained.”
. . .
“We have been working on this case for six months already and we didn’t see any real evidence. We tried to convince the court today to change the detention to house arrest. Paul said his position to the judge (that he is innocent), but everything was in vain.”
John Bolton spoke out against whelans detention repeatedly as a member of the Trump administration.
Trump recently weighed in with his dissatisfaction about the Griner/Bout prisoner swap on his Truth Social.
He made no mention of Whelan.