JD Vance defends Witkoff calling Putin a ‘humanitarian,’ saying he was thanking him for releasing an American

U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended special envoy Steve Witkoff after he called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “humanitarian,” saying the remark came immediately after Russia released American detainee Stephen Hubbard.

“I agree with Steve Witkoff saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage,” Vance said Wednesday.

Witkoff had praised Putin during talks in St. Petersburg after Hubbard, a 74-year-old American who had spent more than four years in Russian detention, was freed. Vance said Witkoff was acting as a diplomat and that bringing Hubbard home mattered more than the wording he used.

Vance also declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s election, despite President Donald Trump’s public backing of Netanyahu. “Trump’s endorsement is ultimately what matters,” Vance said, adding that he was focused on the U.S. midterm elections.

He said he had endorsed only one foreign candidate in his life — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — and noted that “it didn’t go particularly well,” referring to Orbán’s defeat in Hungary’s 2026 election.

Vance also defended Trump against accusations that political allies were profiting from access to government, saying there was “no person who hates the idea of people enriching themselves fraudulently over access to the government” more than Trump.