Trump Hosts Freed Prisoner Hubbard in Oval Office

President Donald Trump met with Stephen Hubbard in the Oval Office on Friday, a little over a week after the retired Michigan teacher walked out of a Russian prison where he had been held for more than four years. The White House let a limited pool of journalists into the room, primarily news photographers and a television crew.

Russian authorities charged Hubbard with fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. His legal team has denied those accusations and said he took part in no military activity. Trump said previously that he had asked Russian President Vladimir 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 as he hosted Hubbard.

Hubbard was arrested in Russia and held for more than four years. He has said he heard many times over that period that release was near but never trusted the reports. He described adopting a posture of "seeing is believing" and "actions speak louder than words." The turning point came at the prison exit. "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.'"

Hubbard traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg after leaving the prison. He arrived at the White House a little more than a week after that release for the Oval Office meeting.