White House exchange turned into on-camera confrontation after president was asked what was promised to Russia in return for American prisoner's release
US President Donald Trump clashed sharply with CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins after she pressed him with questions about the release of American citizen Steven Hubbard from a Russian prison.
When the reporter pointed to an apparent contradiction between the president's statements and his remarks about negotiations with Moscow, Trump attacked her personally, calling her "a person with a low IQ" and "stupid."
The confrontation came after the release of Hubbard, a 74-year-old American from Michigan who had been held in Russia for more than four years.
He was arrested in April 2022 after Russia seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, and was later convicted in a Russian court of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces as a mercenary. In October 2024, he was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison. His family rejected the charges against him, and the US government designated him a wrongfully detained citizen.
Hubbard's release was announced last night (October 21) after Trump appealed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to free him. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg and later met Hubbard at the city's airport before his departure back to the United States.
Trump claimed his country was not required to give anything in return for the release and that no prisoner exchange was necessary.
But later, when asked about the decision not to impose additional sanctions on Russia during the contacts, Trump explained that the United States was in the midst of negotiations and that imposing sanctions could have derailed efforts to bring Hubbard home.
According to him, if the United States had imposed the sanctions his critics spoke of, the American citizen might have remained in Russian prison for many years.
Collins insisted on pointing out the gap between his statements: if refraining from imposing sanctions helped secure his release, isn't that effectively an American concession as part of the negotiations?
Trump replied that without his handling, Hubbard would not have come home. When Collins said this means the United States did give something in return, he responded: "You don't know anything. You're from CNN, the fake news network."
The reporter was not satisfied with the answer and asked whether the president was in fact confirming that removing sanctions was part of the exchange for the prisoner's release. Trump rejected the framing of the question and escalated the attack: "You have no idea what you're talking about. You're a person with a low IQ. You're stupid."
Many commenters noted that Trump, even as US president, remains the best student of Roy Cohn, the lawyer and political adviser who taught Trump early in his career the rule: "Attack, attack, attack."
Join our newsletter to receive updates on new articles and exclusive content.
We respect your privacy and will never share your information.
