On Wednesday, 21 October, Trump called CNN's Kaitlan Collins a 'dummy' and an ABC News reporter, a woman, 'stupid' after they asked whether Stephen James Hubbard's release was linked to sanctions relief for Russia.
Trump announced a deal with Vladimir Putin in early October 2026 for the release of hundreds of thousands of barrels of diesel, according to El País, while eldiario.es links the easing to sanctions approved on 18 September.
Steve Witkoff thanked Putin for freeing Stephen James Hubbard and called him 'humanitarian', and lawmakers from both parties criticised the remarks.
With the midterm elections less than two weeks away as of 21 October, El País reports that Trump's approach to Moscow is weighing on Republican candidates.
Trump is easing pressure on Moscow as fuel prices climb, a move El País describes as a desperate attempt to bring down diesel costs and to end the war in Ukraine. In early October 2026 he announced a deal with Vladimir Putin for the release of hundreds of thousands of barrels of diesel, which would let the United States buy cheaper fuel. Eldiario.es reports that the arrangement also opened markets to Russian diesel and set aside sanctions approved on 18 September. Trump has tied that decision to negotiations for Stephen James Hubbard, a retired American professor held in a Russian prison since 2022. The reports differ on why Hubbard was detained: El País says he was accused of fighting as a mercenary, while eldiario.es says Russia captured him while he served in the Ukrainian army.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff, a personal friend of Trump, spoke in St. Petersburg, where he had travelled to negotiate a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine. There he thanked Putin for freeing Hubbard and called him 'humanitarian', a description that drew criticism from lawmakers of both parties. El País frames the remarks as another step in normalising relations between Washington and Moscow, following the diesel announcement. Asked by correspondents at the White House, Trump answered that, for the purpose of freeing a man who thought he would spend the rest of his life in prison, he supposed the praise was justified, but he would not say anything either way. He stressed that Hubbard was freed without any compensation in return, even though he had lifted the sanctions.
On Wednesday, 21 October, as Trump left the White House for a rally in South Carolina, reporters asked whether Hubbard's release was linked to the easing of Russian sanctions. Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that she did not know what she was talking about, called her a dummy and said she had a low IQ and worked for CNN. When a female ABC News reporter asked the same question, Trump called her stupid and said her network was the worst of all. When Collins asked whether he had given something in return, Trump replied:
“If I didn't do that, you wouldn't have him coming back.”
Earlier that morning, Trump had posted on Truth Social that imposing the sanctions would have completely halted the negotiations. He also wrote that several people who had pushed for sanctions called him to apologise, because they had not known he was negotiating Hubbard's release.
The insults followed a confrontation on Tuesday, 20 October, when Trump warned Andrew Feinberg of The Independent to be careful in the Oval Office and asked whether he was ill. Since starting his second term in January 2025, Trump has repeatedly clashed with reporters, especially women. In November 2025 he told Bloomberg's Catherine Lucey to be quiet, using a derogatory term for a pig aboard Air Force One, when she asked about Jeffrey Epstein. In May 2026 he called MS NOW's Akayla Gardner dumb after she asked about the cost overruns of a planned large ballroom at the White House. Trump is also fighting a court battle to restrict access to the White House for certain outlets, and he has considered turning the press room into an indoor swimming pool, according to LaSexta.
El País reports that Trump's rapprochement with Putin is making several Republican candidates uneasy, and that fuel prices are among the issues doing the most damage to conservatives ahead of the midterms. Eldiario.es describes Trump as campaigning every day, with his popularity at very low levels and fuel prices high. The same outlet attributes the high fuel prices to the war in Iran. The midterm elections are less than two weeks away as of 21 October.
Pollar is free and carries no ads in the text. Its members keep it going.
Support PollarDiplomacy · Washington and St. Petersburg
Trump called CNN's Kaitlan Collins a 'dummy' and an ABC News reporter 'stupid' on Wednesday, 21 October, after they asked whether the release of an American held in Russia was linked to US sanctions relief.
AI text based on reports by EL PAÍS, SAPO, Notícias ao Minuto and other publishers. Published .