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Trump Blasts Obama over Apparent 'Cash for Hostages' Iran Deal Bombshell

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GOP nominee Donald Trump is blasting rival Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration Wednesday over a new report that the White House sent $400 million to Iran in January when it released four American hostages.

The latest controversy comes after another war of words between Trump and President Barack Obama.

Trump is firing back at the president after he openly questioned the nominee's fitness to serve in the nation's highest office.

"I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president… he's woefully unprepared to do this job," Obama told reporters in a press conference Tuesday.

With a foreign leader by his side Tuesday, Obama made an unprecedented move in modern elections. He not only blasted Trump as being unqualified for the White House, he suggested Republican leaders should withdraw their support for their party's nominee.

"If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?" Obama challenged.

Trump wasted no time firing back.

"Well, he's a terrible president. He'll probably go down as the worst president in the history of our country. He's been a total disaster. You look at what's happened to the Middle East. You look at what's happened with Syria and his line in the sand," Trump retorted.

Trump's criticism comes just as the Wall Street Journal reports the White House secretly organized the transfer of $400 million to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran.

The money is said to be the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran over a failed arms deal from the late 1970s, and that first payment also coincided with the implementation of the nuclear agreement.

Some Republicans in Congress accuse the president of paying a ransom for U.S. hostages, but the Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo.

Some lawmakers worry that Iran would give some of the money to allies like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.

The news of the cash exchange came after Trump had already said the president and his rival Clinton have destabilized the Middle East, It could become an issue in the election.

Trump also accused the Obama administration of releasing criminal aliens into the United States who have killed one innocent American after another and producing the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, some Republicans are distancing themselves from their nominee.

Former Silicon Valley executive and GOP fundraiser Meg Whitman has been vocal in her opposition of Trump. She now says she's decided to support Clinton.

"Donald Trump's demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character," Whitman said in a statement. "America needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide."

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About The Author

Efrem Graham
Efrem
Graham

Efrem Graham is an award-winning journalist who came to CBN News from the ABC-owned and operated station in Toledo, Ohio. His most recent honor came as co-anchor of the newscast that earned the station’s morning news program its first Emmy Award. Efrem was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but his formal television and journalism career was born across the Hudson River in New York City. He began as an NBC Page and quickly landed opportunities to work behind-the-scenes in local news, network news, entertainment, and the network’s Corporate Communications Department. His work earned him the NBC