Freed American Stephen Hubbard meets Trump at White House

Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher freed after more than four years in a Russian prison, told President Donald Trump on Friday that he did not believe he was going home until guards gave him new clothes and led him toward the exit.

“I had heard it many times before, and I reached the state where seeing is believing,” Hubbard told reporters in the Oval Office. “Actions speak louder than words. I never trusted what they said.”

Hubbard, a retired teacher from Michigan, was making his first public remarks since his Oct. 21 release. He said he finally believed he was leaving when he saw a car outside the prison, accompanied by two Russians. On the drive from Moscow to St. Petersburg, he recalled thinking, “I’m really going somewhere.”

Russian authorities had jailed Hubbard on accusations that he fought as a mercenary for Ukraine. His legal team has denied the allegations and said he took part in no military activity, according to The Guardian. Hubbard returned to the United States last week.

Trump called Hubbard a “very special man” who “suffered greatly.” Hubbard said he would not have lived another year in the prison.

At one point, Trump asked Hubbard, “I think I could say that you were treated reasonably well, right?” Hubbard answered yes and said some guards had treated him “sympathetically.”

Hubbard’s release was announced during a meeting between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Trump has said he asked Putin to free Hubbard and that the United States did not release anyone in return. “He was somebody I wanted to get back,” Trump said Friday.

Trump also said there was no “swap” for Hubbard. CBS News reported that the president appeared to tie Hubbard’s release to his decision to exempt Russia from sanctions passed by Congress. Trump said imposing sanctions during negotiations could have jeopardized Hubbard’s return.

“We were in the midst of negotiating,” Trump told reporters last week. “If I would have done that, you would not have Mr. Hubbard coming back.” CBS News reported that Trump had not reimposed those sanctions since Hubbard’s release.

The White House allowed a limited group of journalists into the meeting, The Guardian reported. Asked by a CBS News reporter when he learned he would be freed, Hubbard described how repeated assurances had left him doubtful. It took new clothes, a walk to the prison exit and a car waiting outside before he believed he was on his way home.