Trump Hosts Former Russian Detainee Hubbard After 4 Years Behind Bars
The Michigan teacher, freed from a Russian prison a little over a week prior, said he did not trust reports of his release until guards handed him new clothes.
By Olga Paredes ·
President Donald Trump met on Friday with Stephen Hubbard, a retired Michigan teacher freed from Russian custody, in a White House gathering closed to most press.
Hubbard spent more than four years in a Russian prison on charges that he fought as a mercenary in Ukraine. His lawyers have denied the Russian accusations and said he took no part in any military activity. Trump said he previously asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Hubbard's release and stated that the U.S. did not release anyone in return. "He was somebody I wanted to get back," Trump said while hosting him.
The White House admitted a limited journalist pool to the meeting, consisting mainly of news photographers and a television crew.
Hubbard told Trump he had repeatedly heard he would be released from a Russian prison but never trusted those assurances. He described adopting a posture of "seeing is believing" and "actions speak louder than words." He said he only accepted it was real once officials issued him new garments. "Only when they started giving me new clothes and leading me to the exit of the prison," Hubbard told Trump. "I went out and I saw the car, and I was accompanied by a couple of Russians, then I believed, finally believed, on the drive from Moscow to St. Petersburg, 'I'm really going somewhere.'"
The meeting took place a little over a week after Hubbard left Russian custody. Hubbard was held for more than four years on the mercenary charges before his release.
Source: ABC7 Los Angeles
