Donald Trump Branded a 'Full on Traitor' and 'Putin's Lapdog' After Striking Russian Diesel Deal

Donald Trump has been accused of betraying Ukraine after announcing a deal for Russia to supply hundreds of thousands of tonnes of diesel to American and global markets.

The US president made the announcement on social media on Friday, following what he described as a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Critics immediately branded him a 'full on traitor' and 'Putin's lapdog'.

Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to stop American money from helping fund Moscow's war against Ukraine.

Weeks before Trump's announcement, lawmakers also passed legislation directing him to impose substantial tariffs on the leading importers of Russian oil or natural gas. The aim was to reduce the revenue Russia receives from energy sales.

What Donald Trump Announced

Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace. He added that a further 500,000 tonnes would follow in November, with another one million tonnes released 'immediately thereafter'.

Russia would then deliver an additional three million tonnes 'within a short period of time', according to Trump's post. The president has recently sought to blame record US diesel prices on Ukraine, rather than the US-led war in Iran, which has pushed up world energy prices.

The timing is awkward, to put it mildly. Congress had just moved to tighten the financial squeeze on Moscow, only for the White House to pursue a supply arrangement with the country it is trying to isolate.

Senators Demand Reversal

On Sunday, a bipartisan group of six senators called on Trump to 'immediately reverse course'. Four Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Curtis of Utah, joined Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

In a joint statement, the senators said the administration had failed to consult Congress or provide the statutory explanation required for its decision. 'The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,' they wrote. 'The Administration must immediately reverse course.'

The lawmakers also said Congress had been clear that the US should not import Russian oil until Russia ends its aggression against Ukraine and stops threatening NATO allies. They argued that allowing Russian diesel imports ran directly counter to that law.

Tillis went further in an interview broadcast on NBC's Meet the Press. He said there was a legitimate case for arguing that the president was not following the law if the diesel purchase went ahead.

'We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor,' Tillis said. 'Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied.'

Trump Praises Putin, Criticises Zelensky

Speaking to reporters on Saturday as he returned from a rally in Tennessee, Trump criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to make a deal with Russia. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

'This is something that could have been solved many times but for whatever reason Zelensky does not want to make a deal,' Trump said. 'If you look at the odds you know you're talking about millions more soldiers on one side than the other.'

He added that Zelensky would have been 'a lot better off' if he had made a deal two years earlier. Trump, who once claimed he could end the Russia-Ukraine war on the first day of his second term, then praised Putin's willingness to seek a settlement.

'President Putin would like to see a settlement, strongly,' Trump said. 'Look, he's freeing up a lot of oil for the world okay, that's a good thing. By the way, at a very low price.'

That framing did not land well online. One X user called Trump a 'diabolical miscreant with no conscience or integrity', while another wrote, 'Congratulations America. You have a full on traitor in the White House.'

Another commenter said, 'He is totally Putin's lapdog.' A self-described former Trump supporter was blunter still, calling the president's remarks 'utter horses**'.

Will It Lower Fuel Prices?

Energy experts are sceptical that the arrangement would meaningfully reduce prices at the pump. Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, said the total diesel volume appears to be less than the amount the US uses in a single day.

That is the central problem for the administration's argument. Even if the shipments arrive as announced, the quantities involved look modest against American consumption, while the political cost of buying fuel from Russia could be considerable.

The White House has not yet explained how the plan will operate, how it complies with the 2022 import ban, or whether Putin can deliver the volumes Trump described. Until those questions are answered, the deal remains an announcement rather than a settled policy.