‘The cost to us, the United States, is high’: Trump’s ‘financial lifeline’ diesel deal with Putin sparks bipartisan backlash in Congress

The House speaker stood before Donald Trump during his first term at the White House and pointed a finger, declaring that with this president, “All roads lead to Putin.” The stark assessment years ago from Nancy Pelosi echoed anew after Trump’s surprise announcement last week that he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to import tons of Russian diesel to the U.S. as a way to ease sky-high prices at the pumps for Americans ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump’s diesel deal with Putin has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats as fueling Russia’s war against Ukraine , violating existing U.S. laws and drawing the U.S. closer to Russia.

It joins a growing list of instances in which the Republican president has sided with Putin , often at the expense of Ukraine — and America’s own standing.

“The harm to the Ukrainians is real,” said William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, in an interview Monday.

“And the cost to us, the United States, is high.” It’s not at all clear the Trump-Putin deal will deliver the supply boost the president is seeking to bring down prices.

Energy experts have said the flow of Russian diesel is unlikely to lower prices in the U.S., which have escalated largely due to disruptions from the U.S. war against Iran .

But the agreement underlines a message at home and abroad that Trump is an unreliable ally as Ukraine battles Russia.

A bipartisan group of six senators urged Trump over the weekend to reverse course, saying the U.S.

“should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline.” Trump, however, held fast to his deal with Putin and lashed out , blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for America’s high diesel costs and asserting he should step aside — something Ukraine’s leader has no intention of doing.

“Anything that could help our farmers, our ranchers, I like,” Trump said Monday outside the White House.

Asked about Republican criticism of the Russia deal, Trump said they “can’t really be serious.” Trump also insisted that an energy ceasefire is in place for Ukraine and Russia, despite Zelenskyy saying that Moscow continued to strike his country’s energy sites.

An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll published Oct.

1 found that Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices.

Congress voted to halt Russian imports, but Trump has other plans Congress swiftly approved legislation at the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in spring of 2022 to ban the import of Russian energy products, which are widely viewed as providing the financial fuel for Putin’s military assault on Ukraine.