MANILA — According to The Washington Post, President Donald Trump personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help resolve the case involving three UCLA basketball players.
The three players were arrested on shoplifting charges in Hangzhou, while at a tournament last week. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed in an email to the Post that Trump raised the matter with Xi.
Xi promised Trump that the players would be treated fairly and expeditiously, according to the Post.
LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were released on bail after being questioned about stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store near the team hotel.
Citing a source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation, ESPN reports there is surveillance footage of the players shoplifting, and the players could be in Hangzhou for “a week or two.”
“I’m going to wait until I get more intel on what’s going on,” LaVar Ball said at the time. “He’ll be fine. Everyone’s making it a big deal. It ain’t that big a deal.”
