Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday called President Joe Biden an “incompetent fool” for agreeing to a prisoner swap with Iran that will give the country access to $6 billion in frozen assets.
Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, signed off on a deal in which the United States would receive five Americans held captive in Iran in exchange for releasing five Iranian prisoners and $6 billion in frozen assets.
“Can you believe that Crooked Joe Biden is giving $6 Billion to the terrorist regime in Iran?” Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday. “That money [will] be used for terrorism all over the Middle East, and, indeed, the World. This incompetent FOOL is absolutely destroying America.”
Trump slammed Biden’s “audacity” in announcing the specifics of the deal on September 11 and said that paying for hostages would “lead to kidnapping, ransom, and blackmail against Americans across the globe.”
“I freed many dozens of our people from various unfriendly countries and never paid a dime!” Trump wrote.
“So, lets get this straight! We did a hostage TRADE with Iran. We gave them 5 very tough, smart people that they desperately wanted. We likewise got back 5 people BUT, we also gave them 6 BILLION DOLLARS! How much of a kickback does Crooked Joe Biden get?” Trump posted.
A spokeswoman from the National Security Council said U.S. officials would oversee the use of the funds, calling it a “procedural step” to ensure humanitarian aid gets to the country.
“As we have said from the outset, what is being pursued here is an arrangement wherein we secure the release of five wrongfully held Americans,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. “This remains a sensitive and ongoing process.”
But in an interview with NBC News’s Lester Holt, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the money “belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money.”
NEW: President Trump statement on Biden’s terrible Iranian hostage deal. pic.twitter.com/6imoX5RDFc
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) September 12, 2023
