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Trump Welcomes Steven Hubard Home After Release From Russia, Oct. 30, 2026

October 30, 2026 · The White House · 0:12:15

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What happened

President Donald Trump delivered remarks in the Oval Office on October 30, 2026, welcoming Steven Hubard — the name as given in the recording — and Hubard’s family, according to the White House upload, published with the description “The White House.”

In the remarks, a transcript of which was reviewed for this page, the President said Hubard had suffered greatly and had been held for four and a half years, as Hubard confirmed in the exchange. The President said he spoke to President Putin, that Russia said it would let Hubard come back, and that Hubard arrived by plane a couple of days earlier, all as he stated it. Hubard said he had been treated reasonably well and, in his words, even sympathetically by some of the guards, as he stated it. The President noted the family was standing in front of the Declaration of Independence in the office.

A family member said the family had given up most hope after talk in 2025 dwindled and Hubard was not in another group that was released, and said the State Department kept the family in touch, as stated in the exchange. Hubard said he had been isolated from other foreigners, had at first been under artillery fire where the fighting was, and said he only believed he was free when he was given new clothes, led to the prison exit, and driven from Moscow toward St. Petersburg, all as he stated it.

Taking questions, the President said there are other Americans still detained in Russia — “could be eight,” as he stated it, while noting he was hearing different numbers — and said the administration is working on them also. Asked about lifting sanctions on Russian sovereign funds, he said he was not lifting sanctions or doing anything on that point, and argued that putting sanctions on Russia while negotiating would have undermined Hubard’s release, as he stated it. Asked about Iran, he said talks are happening and that Iran wants to talk, as he stated it. Asked about a Binance hack, he said the administration does not know the attribution and is looking at it, and that those involved say they have it largely under control, as he stated it.

The President also described his closing midterm travel in the remarks: a Florida rally that day for Byron Donalds and others, tele-town halls on Saturday, rallies in Iowa and then Kansas on Sunday, and telephone rallies on Monday, all as he stated it. He offered Hubard a ride on Air Force One to Florida, as stated in the exchange.

Why it matters

The event puts a named American’s return from Russian detention on the record in the President’s own account: a direct conversation with President Putin, a release agreed to in that conversation, and a stated effort on other detained Americans. Those claims — the Putin conversation as the mechanism, the four-and-a-half-year detention, and the figure of about eight other Americans — are the checkable markers in the remarks, tracked here on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub alongside the administration’s other Russia and detainee record.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s statements as made in these remarks — that he spoke to President Putin and Russia agreed to release Hubard, and that about eight other Americans remain detained in Russia and are being worked on — are checkable markers as stated. Flagged as a scoreboard candidate for the editor; no scoreboard entry is published from this page.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Delivers Remarks, Oct. 30, 2026,” October 30, 2026 (official White House upload, embedded above; published October 30, 2026, with the description “The White House”). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures, names, and characterizations as stated by the President, Hubard, and his family in the remarks; the spelling “Hubard” follows the recording.