President Trump responded on twitter following the release of 3 UCLA basketball players who were arrested in China for shoplifting, expressing his displeasure for the lack of gratitude shown by LaVar Ball, father of one UCLA players released.
UCLA freshman Liangelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou while team was visiting China to play Georgia Tech on that Friday. Shoplifting in China is a serious deal and can be 5-10 years in jail, but the boys were released after intervention by President Trump.
Trump had tweeted earlier in the week, calling for gratitude from the players for his work in this case with China. He tweeted, “Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!”.
Liangelo Ball, son of LaVar and younger brother of the Los Angeles Lakers Star, Lonzo Ball, publicly apologized in a news conference and thanked President Trump for personally asking the Chinese president to intervene in the case. Along with Liangelo, both of the other players thanked the President for his involvement in their release.
Although the issue appeared somewhat resolved, father LaVar Ball came to twitter to write “They try and make a big deal out of nothing sometimes… I’m from L.A. I’ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses.”
Trump tweeted again on Sunday, calling Lavar “Very ungrateful” and saying “I should have left them in jail!”
Questions:
Should Trump have taken the measures he did to release the players from China, and what does Trump gain from the intervention?
Is Trump following the intended use of his twitter account or is he going to far in his more personal tweets?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/19/politics/trump-response-lavar-ball/index.html
The UCLA players committed a crime and so should have paid the price (even though it was more serious than if they shoplifted in the US). However, because of the name of their school, their status is above the average American, which is the reason Trump intervened. He gains positive public attention for helping out fellow Americans. However, what he did was not just, but it would reflect badly on him if he didn't do it. Thus, Trump's actions were for gaining public favor, but he should not have released them because it was not the fair choice.
ReplyDeleteTrump released the UCLA players since it would give him more public approval, even thought the players likely should have dealt with the consequences for the crimes. While LaVar Ball did seem ungrateful to Trump when Liangelo Ball and the other players were released, his use of twitter went too far when he said that he should have left the players in jail.
ReplyDeleteI think that Trump is going too far with the use of his twitter account, suing it more for personal topics rather than those concerning politics. He sounds like a child, publically announcing his anger and frustration with the ball family not showing gratitude. This is not something the President of hte United State should be doing on their twitter account, let alone at all.
ReplyDelete1. Well given the fact that I support UCLA in college basketball, I am glad Trump was able to help release some good basketball players from China. I bet Trump thought that he could gain support from the younger generation by doing so, but I don't think this had an affect on his approval ratings.
ReplyDelete2. In my opinion, NEVER take Trump's tweets too seriously.
I am indifferent on his actions to release the UCLA players. One because the players did commit a crime and should see consequences for their actions. Although, I believe Trump acted the way he did because the boys were well known. I think Trump gained some support from fans of UCLA, although the players reputations have been ruined do to the fact they get away without consequences. There careers are not going as far as they would in the past.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though Trump was right in intervening and releasing the players from China. This was an event that was highly publicized as a result of Lavar and Lonzo's influence in the sports world right now even before Trump got involved. Thus Trump could have gained some media support from this incident. Furthermore, it is the presidents job to help protect US citizens traveling overseas, especially in a case like this.
ReplyDeleteTrump is, without a doubt, abusing his Twitter. If anything, as the president of our country, Trump's tweets should never cause controversy or confusion this is not the only instance where he has resorted to his Twitter account to speak on issues. In my opinion, Twitter is no platforms for the subjects he Tweets about and he needs to tone it down several notches if he wants to be taken more seriously.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think Trump did a good deed by bringing the 3 UCLA players home, I think he may have had some ulterior motives for what he did. With many real issues grabbing the headlines and Trump doing nothing to help himself or his image, he needed an appearance booster. Now I personally think Lavar Ball is a marketing genius but the idea that the President of the United States of America is getting into a Twitter war with the guy is a little ridiculous. POTUS has much more important things to do than squabble with Lavar Ball on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteTrump always has and always will go too far on his Twitter account. Being the President of the United Class one should have more class in addressing the public. He should also not use his account for personal vendettas against people and instead use it for good and talk about concerning issues in Congress and get the people more involved in the policy process.
ReplyDeleteTrump was correct in intervening in China and helping the UCLA basketball players. They were American citizens being detained in a foreign country and he helped to bring them home. However, I think the amount of attention he gave to such an insignificant matter was a little bit unsettling. Trump's priorities seem to be out of sorts as there are pressing matters to be addressed while he is creating twitter beef with the ball family.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe that Trump was in the right for intervening, I do not believe his actions caused by his need for attention. By addressing the public through Twitter, Trump has abused his Twitter. Twitter should not be used for official statements from the President and by getting into public argument with LaVar Ball.
ReplyDeleteTrump's intervention was helpful, but he acted as if it was the best thing he has done since he was elected into office. Trump is asserting dominance over the general population and it seems as though he is only creating more issues by creating Twitter beef with a now famous Lavar Ball.
ReplyDeleteTrump intervening asserts a correct position because Americans committed a crime internationally especially with a famous background. However, his statements poses unprofessionalism and should use social media platform for awareness and certain issues asserted with professionalism.
ReplyDeleteI think Trump misuses Twitter. A lot of people views his account as a meme and I think that being said just shows that the public can not take him seriously. The president should take advantage of social media to talk about serious issues and make the public more aware of the government.
ReplyDeleteA good portion of the time Trump doesn't know how to articulate himself in a face to face setting and it it widespread knowledge that it is far easier to convey whatever one wants to say while hiding behind a screen. He abuses his twitter account and while he does have the ability to say whatever he would like due to the first amendment, it would be far more ideal if he thought through the repercussions of sharing his rather harsh ideas before summarizing them into an 140 character tweet.
ReplyDelete2. This idea of- why isn't Trump's twitter deactivated? Isn't is not following the intended use of Twitter and guidelines? Well this is a complicated topic because in a way his comments, even if radical, on Twitter are protected by his 1st amendment rights, and Twitter has even disclosed this. With situations like this where he tweets "should have left them in jail?" is truly indecent. Trump is incapable of understanding right from wrong and his tweets are a clear depiction of that, so let's cut him some slack right? No, there's such thing as social media handlers and I believe he should have an advisor to check his tweets because most of them are just way out of line and Twitter can't simply do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe it was a smart move for him, Trump exercised his power mainly on LiAngelo Ball, do to his upcoming fame being a member to the "Ball" Family. Will he continue this act of compassion for any other cities getting arrested internationaly? Overall he gained what he wanted, and was headlines of his powers in action n an International level.
ReplyDeleteIs Trump following the intended use of his twitter account or is he going to far in his more personal tweets? His tweets are very upfront, he is often aggravating Nation where they are armed with nuclear devices.
Trump did the right thing helping the UCLA players. It's a key part of world diplomacy to set straight other country's bad decisions. The arrest of the players was political, so an intervention by Trump is warranted.
ReplyDeleteTrump is doing what he's known for with his Twitter account - manipulating the press to his favor. He's very good at it, many think it landed him the Presidency. The net effect of Trump's twitter efforts are he steers the conversation in his direction without having to get in front of the press. Very effective politics.
Trump's intervention provided positive publicity for him, which would strengthen his approval. However, I think his use of Twitter is overboard. His form of communication seems informal and unprofessional, which does not align with the image of the president. By getting into a feud with Ball, it seems like he is only doing it for the attention.
ReplyDeleteTrumps intentions in helping the basketball players may have been reasonable, however it is his comments against the father of the player that were most appalling. This further exemplifies how he is more concerned with his own ego and not with the real concerns of the country.
ReplyDeleteI think the very act of asking for gratitude on Twitter displays the reason behind his intervention. As Clare said, it was informal and unprofessional, and if he was doing it for the sole purpose of protecting the boys, he probably would not have made such a big deal about it in public. However, given many of President Trump's actions and tweets it should come as no surprise. If anything, it reveals the developments in government-general public interaction due to technology.
ReplyDelete