Trump attacks UCLA player's father yet again

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again attacked LaVar Ball, the father of one of the UCLA basketball players, in a series of tweets referring him to a "poor man's version of Don King" and an "ungrateful fool!"

"It wasn't the White House, it wasn't the State Department, it wasn't father LaVar's so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man's version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..," Trump tweeted.

"...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It's a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!" he added.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump said Ball should have waited until "his next trip" to China to negotiate for the player's release.

Three players were arrested and accused of shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton store while the UCLA basketball team was on a trip to China for its season-opening game.

Last week, they were released and returned to the US, after Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about resolving the situation.

The players held a press conference last week in which they apologised for the incident and thanked Trump for the help.

During an interview, when the father of one of the players was asked about Trump's role in bringing his son back to the US, the father responded "Who?"

"What was he over there for? Don't tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.