President Donald Trump’s Tuesday, Oct. 20, ran from the Oval Office to a rally in North Carolina, and ended overnight with the release of an American held in Russia. This entry in the series Every 24 Hours What the President Says covers 7:07 a.m. PT Tuesday to 7:07 a.m. PT Wednesday, lists highlights first, sorts his statements by topic and closes with a closer look at Russia and the Hubbard release.

Highlights. He credited his phone call with Putin for Hubbard’s release (). He announced a tipster reward program in the Oval Office (Reuters). And he declared a policy on data centers: “New and large, in some cases gigantic, Data Centers are mandated by me to make their own electricity, and give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid” (); the desk found no order putting that in writing.

The tipster program. Reuters reports Trump said the new program would award an unlimited 1% commission, while the Justice Department described $10,000 to $30,000 awards with $25 million committed by the Treasury. On who gets paid, he said: “I will be very generous, believe me. We’re not looking to save on that.” Reuters says a White House official put the first award, to YouTuber Nick Shirley, at $10,000. Trump later posted that “Nick Shirley went after California” ().

Midterms. His $400 million post said “More than 300 Million Dollars has already been spent on Advertising, Direct and Indirect Voter Contact, Rallies” and more (). In Greenville, N.C., per The Duke Chronicle, he told supporters: “Please pretend I’m on the ballot because, in a way, I am on the ballot.” He posted early-voting alerts for Iowa, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio ().

Energy abroad. “The U.K. has started drilling in the North Sea,” he wrote. “They should go FULL BLAST!!! This will make the U.K. very wealthy again. TAKE DOWN THE COSTLY AND RIDICULOUS WINDMILLS!” ().

Deep dive: Russia and Hubbard. In the Oval Office, NBC News reports, Trump said: “We want Zelenskyy to make a deal,” and: “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. We’ve gotten absolutely nothing back except grief, death, tremendous monetary loss.” Overnight came the release of Stephen Hubbard. Trump’s first post said the U.S. “was not required to give anything in return - an unprecedented situation for Russia” ().

Twelve minutes later he added: “Numerous people, who requested that sanctions be immediately imposed on Russia, have called to apologize to President Trump in that they didn’t know that he was negotiating the release of Stephen Hubbard” and argued that sanctions would have halted those talks (); he named no callers. Then: “Biden should have done the Hubbard release long ago! What a difference a President makes!” (). NBC News describes the release as “a victory to tout after backlash at home and abroad for his tilt away from Kyiv in the conflict.”