Trump branded a 'f**king traitor' by own family member after congratulating Putin

Donald Trump has been branded a 'f**king traitor' by a member of his own family after he congratulated Vladimir Putin for a prisoner exchange that freed 16 people wrongfully imprisoned in Russia.

The deal, which was arranged by president Joe Biden, saw the likes of journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in March of 2023 for espionage, return home. Former Marine Paul Whelan who had been imprisoned since 2018 on espionage charges was also released.

Trump though was quick to praise Putin's efforts in the scheme and had little to say about incumbent president Joe Biden. Speaking to his supporters in Atlanta, Georgia the former POTUS said: "By the way, I’d like to congratulate Vladimir Putin for having made yet another great deal. Did you see the deal we made? Now look, we want to get people in. We got 59 hostages — I never paid anything.”

Trump continued: "They released some of the greatest killers anywhere in the world. Some of the most evil killers they got. And we got our people back, but boy, we made some horrible, horrible deals. And it’s nice to say we got them back, but does that set a bad precedent?”

The Republican presidential nominee's praise of the Russian leader wasn't greeted with rapturous applause and saw him condemned by his own niece, Mary Trump, a long-term critic of her uncle, who called him a "f**king traitor" on X/Twitter.

The exchange between Russia and the US was the biggest deal between the two nations since the Cold War.

However, Trump's claim that he didn't pay anything for any similar deals when he was president is wrong. The New York Times reports that he struck a $2 million agreement for the release of Otto Warmbier, a comatose student who was sent home from Pyongyang in 2017. Trump claims the bill was never

There are no reports of Joe Biden agreeing to a financial settlement for any of the prisoners that were released this week.

Elsewhere in his speech, Trump attacked Kamala Harris, the Democratic favourite to face him in November's election, calling her more left wing than "Crazy Bernie Sanders" and that she has a "low IQ."

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