The former Marine who was held in Russia from 2019 to 2022 has warned people to be "skeptical" when Donald Trump brags that he will get Ethan Gerhkovich released from a Russian prison, a claim the former president repeated on Friday when the Wall Street Journal reporter was sentenced to 16 years at a secret trial.
The Republican presidential nominee turned to his Truth Social media platform on Friday to needle President Joe Biden for not getting Gershkovich released.
"Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was just sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian Court. Biden will NEVER GET HIM OUT, unless he pays a 'king's ransom,'" Trump said, repeating similar claims he has made on the campaign trail.
"I will get him out FOR NO COMPENSATION immediately following our victory on November 5th, and it will be my great honor to do so. Vote for TRUMP, and The Wall Street Journal should STOP BEING STUPID!!!" he continued.
In May, Trump boasted that he would use his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Gershkovich, who has been held since being arrested in March 2023.
"Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!" Trump said.
Trevor Reed, a former Marine who was released in April 2022 in a prisoner swap following months of negotiations with Russia during the Biden administration, questioned why if Trump has the power to get Gershkovich released he didn't do the same for him and Paul Whelan, another U.S. citizen being held in Russia.
"As a former wrongful detainee in Russia, I would just like to remind everyone that President Trump had the ability to get myself and Paul Whelan out of Russia for years and chose not to. I would be skeptical of any claims about getting Evan Gershkovich back in a day," Reed wrote on X in May in response to Trump's assertion.
Whelan, also a former Marine, was arrested in Moscow in December 2018 on espionage charges during the Trump administration.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 when Trump was still in the White House.
Biden arranged for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner in December 2022 in exchange for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death."
The Kremlin has said they have had no contact with Trump, and Putin has not talked to the former president.
