President Trump Personally Asked Chinese President For Help With UCLA, LiAngelo Ball Shoplifting Situation

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While in Asia, Preisdent Donald Trump personally spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the three UCLA basketball players currently being detained in China, according to David Nakamura of the Washington Post.

Trump was in Chinda during his Asia trip at the same time that LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were arrested after they were caught shoplifting near their team hotel last week.

Via The Washington Post

President Trump personally asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to help resolve the case of three UCLA men’s basketball players who were arrested for shoplifting while in Hangzhou for a tournament last week, people familiar with the situation said Monday.

After Trump raised the matter, Xi promised to look into the case and ensure that the players be treated fairly and expeditiously, said a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.


ESPN Arash Markazi reported a few days ago that the players are expected be released by Chinese authorities within the next few weeks

Via ESPN

A source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation said the players could be in Hangzhou for “a week or two.” The source noted that there is surveillance footage of the players shoplifting from three stores inside of a high-end shopping center, which houses Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Salvatore Ferragamo stores.

LiAngelo Ball and his friends are very lucky that there are powerful people working hard behind the scenes trying to get them home.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.