INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosier farmers are under the diesel gun, with prices skyrocketing to $6.92 a gallon in September, midharvest, thanks to war and chokepoints in Iran. With the midterm election less than a month away, President Donald J. Trump found himself in don’t-just-stand-there-do-something mode.
So he turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Five days after issuing an executive order expanding access to tax-free red-dyed diesel in an effort to help farmers, President Trump announced a diesel “deal” following a lengthy phone call with Putin. Trump announced Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.”
Tons?
That should be a tipoff to a con job. Fuel volumes are normally measured in gallons or barrels. “Tons” is a Russian measurement.
“I want to thank President Putin,” Trump said on Oct. 9. “To be honest with you, we have massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and it’s diesel, which is what we want.”
The U.S. Treasury Department immediately issued a temporary license to supply Russian diesel to the global market. This is in violation of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 which passed the U.S. Senate 86-11 (Sens. Jim Banks and Todd Young voting yea), and the House 262-159, with eight of nine Hoosiers voting yea (U.S. Rep. Andre Carson voted no).
The Associated Press reported, “Trump’s shocking announcement was in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last month that aimed at clamping down on the oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
This is the same Putin — already facing international war crime allegations — who daily is targeting Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure as winter approaches. The United Nations Human Rights Council said that Russian armed forces have carried out repeated attacks across Ukraine, “killing and injuring civilians and damaging homes, hospitals, shops and workplaces. The attacks have involved ballistic and cruise missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs. From Sept. 1-14, at least 200 civilians killed and 1,234 injured.”
The Kyiv Post reported that Russia launched nearly 3,500 jet-powered drones in September, up from 2,850 in August, a 10-fold spike from the 350 documented in June.
Then on Wednesday with no warning, SpaceX’s Elon Musk’s placed speed restrictions on its Starshield system, debilitating Ukraine’s defensive drones. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government,” Musk said. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.” The White House claimed it had no control over SpaceX, blaming the deadly slowdown on Musk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this is an American “betrayal,” telling Piers Morgan Uncensored, “I am sure they knew what they did, absolutely. Because it was 1 a.m. at night, (Starsheild) was blocked by SpaceX and the United States. This decision will bring a lot of human losses. Of course, people will die.”
U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, called it “President Trump’s Munich,” in reference to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” appeasement to Adolph Hitler a year prior to World War II.
The burning question is, why are United States negotiators (i.e., Steve Witkoff and Jarred Kushner) even talking about energy deals with war criminals in what is simply incoherent policy?
And what are U.S. consumers getting in return?
“What does this do to prices? I think probably not much,” Clayton Seigle, an energy strategist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AP, adding this “deal” will be of “great benefit to Russia and to Putin,” who are trying to offload their summer-grade diesel for the heavier winter grades.
Writing for The Atlantic, David Frum observed, “Putin is attempting to leverage Russia’s most strategic asset in his war on Ukraine: Trump’s weakness for corruption. The 2.25 million barrels of diesel Putin offered Trump will have zero net impact on world energy markets or the world price of diesel. But accepting those barrels will collapse the U.S.-led sanctions regime on Russia — and align Trump with Putin against the Ukrainian air attacks on Russian energy production.”
Essentially, the United States of America is switching sides to help Putin.
Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor and vice president, reacted in an X post: “President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian fuel amidst Putin’s ongoing and brutal attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine makes no sense and is a betrayal of the legacy and leadership of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. While Ukraine fights for its survival, Putin’s war machine continues to prosecute his terrorist war on civilian populations.”
Pence added, “Instead of implementing the tough sanctions Lindsey Graham fought to his last breath to enact, President Trump has announced the United States is lifting sanctions on Russian energy, fueling Putin’s war machine. As I saw firsthand in Ukraine last month, Putin is losing this war. Putin doesn’t want peace. Putin wants Ukraine.”
There’s been domestic talk of allowing red-dyed off-road diesel use to help Hoosier farmers deal with Iran war-induced energy spikes.
Russia’s bloody diesel is unlikely to make its way into Indiana combine, tractor and truck fuel tanks anytime soon. This blood “deal” was meant for headlines, not bottom lines.
It is a betrayal. And winter is coming.
Brian A. Howey is an opinion columnist for State Affairs Indiana and the founder of Howey Politics Indiana. His writing offers analysis and opinion shaped by decades of experience covering Indiana politics. Email him at howey@stateaffairs.com.
