Trump taps Russian diesel to ease record US prices as senators object
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The gist
US President Donald Trump announced a deal for Russia to supply over 300,000 tons of diesel as US prices hit a record $6.53 a gallon.
Six senators want the plan reversed, and analysts doubt it will bring truckers relief.
Background
Donald Trump is the US president; Vladimir Putin is Russia's president. The deal marks an abrupt shift for Washington, which had banned imports of Russian oil since Russia's war with Ukraine began. Diesel prices jumped after the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, and Russia's war with Ukraine has also taken some refining capacity offline. Earlier ideas — releasing more tax-exempt fuel and pressing European countries to release reserves — had not made a meaningful dent.
How it unfolded
- Feb 28, 2026The US and Israel attacked Iran; the nationwide average diesel price has since risen 70%.
- Sep 22, 2026The US national average diesel price hit a record $6.53 a gallon, according to AAA.
- Oct 9, 2026Trump announced a deal with Putin under which Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, another 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons soon after.
- Oct 11, 2026Six bipartisan senators urged the administration to immediately reverse course; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer defended the deal on ABC's This Week.
- Oct 12, 2026The national average stood at $6.27 a gallon, up from $3.73 in late February; California averaged $8.38.
- Oct 13, 2026US diesel futures rose 5% to their highest in weeks and European futures gained about 3.8%; Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia could reach 3.5 million tonnes a month to global markets by year-end.
- Oct 15, 2026US producer prices rose far more than expected in September, with the PPI gauge for truck freight transportation up 19% year over year.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Trump said diesel prices will be coming down in record numbers and fast, and that he made the right choice; a White House official said adding hundreds of thousands of tons to global markets will lower prices.
- Party
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer called the deal another example of the president thinking out of the box, saying Americans are hurting from the world diesel market.
- Caution
- Six senators said the US should not give Putin a financial lifeline while Russia keeps killing Ukrainian civilians and must reverse course.
- Analysts
- Michael Lynch said Russian supply would mostly divert existing customers rather than add to global volumes, keeping prices where they are; Tom Kloza said none of the numbers in the announcement make sense.
- Expert
- GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan said $6-a-gallon diesel may be here to stay for now and truckers and farmers will not see relief anytime soon.
Still unverified
It is unclear whether Russia can export large volumes of diesel after Ukrainian strikes knocked out much of its refining capacity; Ukraine has targeted more than 3 million barrels per day of Russian refining, according to Tom Kloza. As of Tuesday, it was also unclear whether Trump's red dye diesel order had any impact on domestic prices or supply.