Trump unsure if Gershkovich will win release from Russia before election

Former President Trump said he does not know whether Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be released from a Russian prison ahead of November’s election.

Trump was asked in an interview with Time magazine about Gershkovich — who has been detained in the country for more than a year on espionage charges the journalist and the U.S. have denied. The former president said he wasn’t sure whether Gershkovich would be released while President Biden is in the White House.

“I think Biden has dealt with Putin very poorly. Putin should never have gone into Ukraine. And he didn’t go in for four years with me. I get along very well with Putin, but the reporter should be released and he will be released. I don’t know if he’s going to be released under Biden,” Trump told reporter Eric Cortellessa in the interview, according to the Time transcript.

Trump also said he would try to get Gershkovich released if elected to the White House, saying he was “surprised” he has not been already.

“I’m surprised that Biden. Well, I’m not surprised with anything with Biden. But I think it’s a terrible precedent. And I’m very surprised that he hasn’t been released, but I will get him released, if he’s not released by the time we get to office,” he said.

The former president was also asked earlier in the interview why he has not yet called for Gershkovich’s release. He said he has been busy working on other things but told Cortellessa he would call for his release.

“I guess because I have so many things I’m working on. I have hundreds of things. And I probably have said very good things about him. Maybe it wasn’t reported. But I think he’s a very brave young man,” he replied.

Trump went on to say that the “difference” between him and Biden is that he would get Gershkovich released, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is going to release him.”

Trump has long faced criticism for his comments about Putin, including when he praised the Russian leader for being a “genius” for recognizing two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine before the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.