WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump welcomed Stephen Hubbard to the Oval Office on Friday after securing his release from Russian captivity.
It’s an honor to have you and your family,” Trump said. “Standing right in front of the Declaration of Independence.”
Hubbard, a retired Michigan teacher, had been imprisoned on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine and was released last Wednesday after remaining in captivity for four years.
President Donald Trump welcomed Stephen Hubbard to the Oval Office on Friday after securing his release from Russian captivity. (POOL)
“I had heard it many times before and I reached the state where seeing is believing. Actions speak louder than words,” Hubbard told reporters about the moment he found out he was being released.
I wouldn’t have lasted another year.”
Trump also spoke about Russia sanctions with Hubbard, in an exchange before reporters in the room.
“While I was negotiating for you, stupid people wanted me to put sanctions on Russia,” Trump said.
Hubbard responded, “Russians laugh at these sanctions.”
“How would it have been if I told Putin I wanted Stephen Hubbard back, then put sanctions on?” Trump asked.
Hubbard answered, “They would all laugh.”
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 30: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks with Stephen Hubbard (L) following his release from a Russian penal colony during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on October 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher who was jailed in Russia for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, was released from prison last week after intervention from President Trump. (Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
President Trump said he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free him during a phone call earlier this month.
“Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” Trump’s post on Truth Social read.
The post said the U.S. did not have to give anything in return for Hubbard’s release, while also criticizing the Biden administration, saying the release “should have taken place long ago.”
Hubbard is the second American freed from Russian custody in about two months. In August, Russia released Marine veteran Robert Gilman, who had been gravely ill and was imprisoned on disputed charges of assaulting a police officer.
About two dozen Americans remain imprisoned in Russia for various reasons, according to the Foley Foundation, a hostage advocacy organization.
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The National News Desk’s Alexx Altman-Devilbiss contributed to this report.
