Trump claims, if elected, Putin will release jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich 'for me'

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed he could get Russian President Vladimir Putin to free imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich if elected, drawing a rebuke from President Joe Biden's campaign.

Gershkovich "will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office," Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform. "He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!"

T.J. Ducklo, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, said that the former president "doesn’t give a damn about the innocent Americans unjustly imprisoned" by Putin, citing Trump's repeated attacks on members of the press.

"Trump has called journalists 'enemies of the people' and pledged to imprison reporters whose coverage he doesn’t like — not all that dissimilar to what’s happening right now to Evan Gershkovich in Russia," Ducklo said in a statement. He noted that Trump has said he turned down a deal to release former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 on alleged suspicion of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The U.S. government has said that Gershkovich and Whelan have been wrongly detained.

"For Donald Trump, these wrongfully imprisoned Americans are political weapons and props to use for his own gain — for Joe Biden, they are human beings whose loved ones and family members he has spent time with," Ducklo added. "Their release remains an urgent priority, just like it was for the 60 Americans who were wrongfully detained or taken hostage that President Biden has already brought home since taking office.”

The Trump campaign and the offices of key GOP lawmakers in Congress who have been hawkish on Russia and Putin, including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reached by NBC News, the offices of Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who sit on the Foreign Relations Committee along with Young, declined to provide comment.

It is unclear why Trump made the claim about Gershkovich's release. Asked about Trump's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has "naturally not had contacts with Donald Trump," Reuters reported.

Gershkovich, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen, has been jailed on espionage charges since late 2023 while reporting for The Wall Street Journal. Russia has repeatedly extended Gershkovich’s detainment. Russian authorities have not provided evidence to support their espionage accusations.

Weeks after Gershkovich's arrest, Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference that the administration would do "everything in its power" to bring him home.

President Joe Biden has said that the U.S. is continuing to press for Gershkovich’s release and “denounce and impose costs for Russia’s appalling attempts to use Americans as bargaining chips.”

“And we will continue to stand strong against all those who seek to attack the press or target journalists — the pillars of free society,” Biden said in a statement in March.

Directly addressing Gershkovich and Whelan in his statement, Biden said, “We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring you home.”