Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Vladimir Putin has angered members of his own party, who joined with Democrats in claiming that it was against the law.
Seven senators, including four Republicans, on Sunday called on the US president to “immediately reverse course” on his deal to purchase millions of tons of diesel fuel from Moscow, calling it a “financial lifeline” to a murderous regime and a violation of US law.
“Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine,” the senators, led by Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said in a statement.
“Congress was clear: the US should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our Nato allies,” the senators said.
Not only does Trump’s decision run “directly counter to that law”, but he also made no attempt to consult Congress before doing so, said Shaheen and fellow Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden, and Republican senators Susan Collins, John Curtis, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis.
Trump announced the agreement with Putin on Friday following what he called a “highly successful discussion” with the Russian president. He touted the arrangement as one that would lower fuel prices “for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers”.
But industry analysts have cast doubt on whether the import of Russian fuel will make a significant difference for American consumers. Diesel prices have hit record highs in the months since Trump launched a war against Iran, severely limiting oil exports from the world’s biggest oil-producing region.
The conflict’s related price hikes and rising US inflation have been punishing for Trump’s approval ratings and threaten the Republicans’ control of Congress when frustrated voters take to the polls for the November midterm elections.
Collins, Murkowski and Tillis have previously criticised Trump’s apparent affection for Putin and hostility to Ukraine.
The deal also faced unexpected pushback on Fox News chat show Fox & Friends, a Trump morning favourite. Host Brian Kilmeade declared on Sunday that “it would be the biggest mistake of his administration to work with Russia. That is the modern Hitler of our generation.”
Kilmeade added: “The diesel fuel got stopped because Iran was blowing up the Gulf states’ oil and their refineries, and now all of a sudden there is new emphasis on Russia.”
Texas Republican senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary election this year after Trump backed his opponent, quoted Kilmeade’s remarks on X, writing: “Bravo.”