Donald Trump's latest threats over Twitter are pretty shocking, even by his standards.
The U.S. president has lashed out at LaVar Ball, father of one of the three UCLA basketball players who were recently detained in China on shoplifting charges.
College freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, have been freed, and arrived back in Los Angeles last week -- days after Trump brought up the issue to Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during his Asia trip. The players thanked him in their media address the day after arriving home.
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But Trump is taking issue over Ball downplaying his role in getting the three players out of detention. When asked about the matter, Ball told ESPN: "Who? What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out."
Trump expressed his disdain in a series of tweets, but also lashed out at the boys in the process.
"LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son...I should have left them in jail!" Trump said in a tweet on Sunday.
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Hours later, he wasn't done. Trump tweeted another similar statement, saying he "should have gotten his son [LiAngelo] out" during his next trip to China, adding that LaVar was "very ungrateful!"
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"How can someone in such a big office be so small?"
Trump's tweet quickly caught the attention of the Twittersphere, with many pointing out how petty his response was.
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Right, because the only reason to do something as President is for the accolades. Makes sense.
— Tom Bonier (@tbonier) November 19, 2017
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The three college players were arrested on Nov. 8 after on charges of stealing designer sunglasses from a shopping mall.
All three players later thanked Trump at a press conference, and apologised for their actions.
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Trump then responded, saying he accepted their thanks and told them to "have a great life."
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All three players have since been suspended from the team, with UCLA coach Steve Alford saying the suspension was "indefinite".
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