U.S. President Donald Trump attends a press briefing at the White House, following the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026.
A former Republican lawmaker is slamming Republicans’ hypocrisy as President Donald Trump eases a Russian oil embargo to diminish a Republican midterm bloodbath.
Trump said Friday that Russia will supply more than 4 million tons of diesel to the global market under a deal he struck with President Vladimir Putin during a phone call.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said on Truth Social.
He then dropped an unproven claim of having “TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz,” and between that and the agreement, “Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!”
The Treasury Department temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel through April 2027 under a general license issued Friday. However, former Republican lawmaker Adam Kinzinger was quick to slap Congressional Republicans with their hypocrisy at the announcement with an old anti-Biden post from 2022.
“Hey look what i found!” wrote Kinzinger on X, while sharing a March 2022 post by the House Judiciary GOP to “Stop buying Russian oil, @JoeBiden.”
Social media hecklers immediately pounced the duplicity
“There's always a tweet, always,” posted one critic on X.
“GOP remain the biggest turn coats ever!” hollered another.
Still another critic posted a 2014 tweet from Trump, complaining about China signing a “massive” oil and gas deal with Russia, which Trump claimed gave “Russia plenty of ammo to continue laughing in U.S. face.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately condemned Trump’s diesel deal with Putin, with Zelenskyy warning that easing sanctions without a commitment from Russia to de-escalate will only prolong the war.
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilized world,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post. “Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.”
But Trump is desperate to lower the high diesel prices that are destroying Republicans in the final weeks of this year’s midterms—prices aggravated by his voluntary war on Iran.
Earlier this week, Trump issued an executive order that allows truckers to use tax-exempt offroad diesel on highways without paying federal penalties. But critics say the EO is largely a toothless ploy because it only defers the tax obligation and creates confusion about whether truckers will have to pay up later. Additionally, the EO does not reduce the patchwork quilt of diesel tax fees truckers will find while driving across multiple states.
