Donald Trump Hopeful LiAngelo Ball, UCLA Players Will Return to USA Soon

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is hopeful UCLA basketball players LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill will soon return to the United States from China.

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), Trump said, "They're working on it right now," following a conversation he had with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the matter.

James T. Areddy of the Wall Street Journal later reported the three players were set to fly back to the United States late Tuesday night in China. Mark Dreyer of China Sports Insider then confirmed and reported the players were on a flight home.

Per ESPN.com's Arash Markazi, Ball, Riley and Hill were arrested in Hangzhou, China, last week for allegedly shoplifting from three stores in a shopping mall.

The three players remained under house arrest at a Chinese hotel while the legal process played out, and they did not return home with the rest of the team.

Last week, Markazi reported a source said it could be "a week or two" before the players returned home. The same source added there was surveillance footage showing the players' shoplifting.

On Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that he asked Xi to resolve the case. According to David Nakamura and Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post, an anonymous U.S. official said Xi promised to "look into the case and ensure that the players are treated fairly and expeditiously."

Per ESPN.com, an anonymous U.S. official told the Washington Post the charges against the three players had been reduced and that the case was heading toward a resolution.

Ball, Riley and Hill were all held out of UCLA's season-opening 63-60 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Shanghai, China.