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Freed Russian prisoner Stephen Hubbard tells Trump ‘I wouldn’t have lasted another year,’ during emotional Oval Office visit

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Cite

Nelson, S. (2026, October 30). Freed Russian prisoner Stephen Hubbard tells Trump ‘I wouldn’t have lasted another year,’ during emotional Oval Office visit. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/30/us-news/freed-russian-prisoner-stephen-hubbard-tells-trump-i-wouldnt-have-lasted-another-year-during-emotional-oval-office-visit/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-30 · by Steven Nelson

Quick Summary

President Trump hosted Stephen Hubbard, a 73-year-old American prisoner freed from Russia, at the White House for an emotional Oval Office visit where Hubbard expressed relief and gratitude for his release after nearly seven years of imprisonment following his arrest in Ukraine. During the event, Hubbard shared personal stories about being near front lines during capture and losing hope over repeated false promises before finally believing he was truly free when he saw a car waiting to take him away from prison. Trump highlighted Hubbard’s return as an honor and praised his appearance despite the hardships endured while incarcerated.
Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but all 1 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 118382: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-31

Story

📰 Trump Meets Freed Prisoner Hubbard
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 11 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 10 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 4 of 44 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes the imprisonment of Stephen Hubbard and other Americans, while Article B reports on Hubbard's release from prison following intervention by President Trump.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-31 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15490 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Steven Nelson
50 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The probe was closed in 2021 by the Biden administration — two years after she entered Congress — after authorities determined the alleged crime was outside a five-year statute of limitations, meaning it would have had to have been charged in 2014 at the latest.
🔮 “They thought they could get away with their crimes.
🔮 WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday hosted the recently released American inmate Stephen Hubbard at the White House — with the retired English teacher and veteran telling Trump he “wouldn’t have lasted another year” in Russian custody.
🔮 After moving to the more conservative suburban Will County, he requested Republican primary ballots in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
🔮 Vance announced last month that 750,000 enrollees would be booted from Obamacare for suspected fraudulent enrollment, with another 450,000 put under review.
🔮 President Trump has publicly said that he may renew attacks on Iran following the election. We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump said at a Friday rally in Fort Myers, Fla.
🔮 “Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid $1,000,000 upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud!” Trump wrote in a social media post shortly before departing the White House for a pre-midterms rally in Mississippi.
🔮 LaCivita, who co-led Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and Blair, who served as a deputy chief of staff at the White House until May, likely will still have to pay income taxes on the revenue, which sources said was more than $100,000 apiece. Trump had raged earlier this month after the New York Times reported that the duo, who hold top roles at the MAGA Inc super pac, had taken a trip to back a political party in the ethnically Serbian Republika Srpska, where they advised the victorious ruling party, led by Milorad Dodik, in the region’s election.
🔮 The president asked Musk to reverse any changes that may have slowed Starshield, a military version of Starlink, impeding Ukraine’s war drones and battlefield communications.
🔮 But I will tell you, when he was investigated the next year, we forbade him from working with youth or children anymore.
Also by Steven Nelson
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 50 articles by Steven Nelson →

Topics

Air Force American Russian Ukraine WASHINGTON

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 7× Hubbard PERSON · 5× Russian NORP · 5× Air Force ORG · 1× American NORP · 1× National Guard ORG · 1× Stephen Hubbard PERSON · 1× Ukraine GPE · 1× Vladimir Putin PERSON · 1× WASHINGTON GPE · 1×

Narrative

Trump secured Hubbard’s release on Oct. 21 following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin — with his freedom coming less than two weeks after Trump announced he was waiving US sanctions on Russian diesel in an effort to tamp down surging global costs.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-31
🔮 WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday hosted the recently released American inmate Stephen Hubbard at the White House — with the retired English teacher and veteran telling Trump he “wouldn’t have lasted another year” in Russian custody.

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday hosted the recently released American inmate Stephen Hubbard at the White House — with the retired English teacher and veteran telling Trump he “wouldn’t have lasted another year” in Russian custody. asserted
he → host → custody
Hubbard, 73, was arrested in eastern Ukraine, where he lived with his partner, in 2022 following the full-scale Russian invasion of the country. asserted
he → arrest → country
He was given a nearly seven-year jail sentence for acting as a mercenary, which he denied. asserted
he → give → which
“I wouldn’t have lasted another year,” Hubbard told Trump in the Oval Office. asserted
Hubbard → last → Office
Trump secured Hubbard’s release on Oct. 21 following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin — with his freedom coming less than two weeks after Trump announced he was waiving US sanctions on Russian diesel in an effort to tamp down surging global costs. asserted
he → secure → costs
Hubbard, an Air Force and National Guard veteran, recalled dodging Ukrainian shells while initially in Russian custody near the front lines of the war, recalling how “I was scrambling too” alongside the troops that captured him. asserted
that → recall → him
Later in his incarceration, he said he had all but given up hope on being freed. asserted
he → say → hope
“I had heard it many times before, and I reached the state where seeing is believing,” he said. asserted
he → hear → state
“I never trusted what they said. asserted
they → trust → what
Only when they started giving me new clothes and leading me to the exit of the prison — I went out and I saw the car, and I was accompanied by a couple of Russians. asserted
I → start → Russians
Then I believed, finally believed, on the drive from Moscow to St. Petersburg, I’m really going somewhere.” asserted
I → believe → Petersburg
Hubbard’s son joined him at the greeting and said he feared his dad was going to die in Russia and is now eating more protein to regain his strength. asserted
dad → join → strength
Trump remarked of the former captive, “you look very healthy. asserted
you → remark → captive
I mean, you have no weight problem.” asserted
you → mean → problem
“It’s an honor to have you back. asserted
It → ’ → you
It’s a great honor,” Trump said. asserted
Trump → ’ → ?
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