The White House bungled the negotiation for the release of former prisoner Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and was now trying to "save face" in light of criticism for the deal they brokered to return him to the United States, said real estate and entertainment billionaire Donald Trump.
Trump told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" that President Barack Obama's administration didn't "have their facts" when they negotiated the deal that exchanged Bergdahl for five Taliban commanders, held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"They just want to save face," Trump said Tuesday. "I don't think the White House knew what they were doing when they made the deal."
Story continues below video.
Bergdahl, who had been serving in Afghanistan, was held prisoner by the Taliban since apparently leaving his post in 2009. A military investigation is still under way to determine the reason for his disappearance.
Officials reported on Monday that Bergdahl was returning to active duty, having completed the reintegration process he had been undergoing since his release on May 31. Trump questioned the
$350,000, tax free, in back pay Bergdahl could receive.
"We trade five killers for one traitor, and now we're going to give the traitor $350,000? And we've put him back to work like nothing happened. And, they don't investigate," Trump said. "This is one of many disasters in the country."
Trump also found it curious that Bergdahl "gets released and he doesn't even want to talk to his parents."