Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy and longtime friend, met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday and thanked him for releasing an American held in Russia for more than four years. “You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that,” Witkoff said, in video of the meeting.
[NOTE: Stephen Hubbard, 74, a retired teacher from Michigan, was detained in 2022 and sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years after a closed trial. Russian prosecutors accused him of fighting for Ukraine as a mercenary, which he denied. The Biden State Department designated him wrongfully detained.]
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who isn’t seeking re-election, replied on X: “WTF, Steve?” He called it an “embarrassing and outrageous thing to say” and told Witkoff to go to Ukraine and ask the families of the children Putin has kidnapped and murdered whether they agree.
[NOTE: Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes over the alleged unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.]
WTF, Steve? Look up the definition of “humanitarian.” What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say. You should go back to Ukraine and ask the families of the children Putin has kidnapped and murdered whether they agree your friend Putin is a “humanitarian.” https://t.co/Nbu0wKPmby
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) October 21, 2026
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) responded to Witkoff’s remarks, saying, “No, Putin is a stone cold killer.” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force brigadier general who is also leaving Congress, also responded, “another embarrassment.”
On Truth Social, Trump wrote that Hubbard was released “at the request of President Donald J. Trump” and that “there was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release.” In a second post, Trump claimed that people who wanted to keep oil sanctions against Russia in place “have called to apologize to President Trump,” because imposing them would have brought the talks to “a complete and total halt.”
[NOTE: When Trump waived The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 last week, Cornyn said “Lindsey would be appalled,” referring to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, the law’s namesake. Tillis has a new book out this week titled, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents.]
On CNN, Tillis said “Putin is playing President Trump like a fiddle.”