WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump appears to be openly violating a 2022 law — which he disparaged because it was enacted by his predecessor ― in his efforts to import Russian diesel fuel that would, if successful, also help dictator Vladimir Putin’s ongoing slaughter of Ukrainian civilians.
Asked by HuffPost during an Oval Office photo opportunity on Thursday how he intended to allow Russian fuel into the country despite the prohibition, Trump at first conflated the law with the Jones Act, which relates to the registration of freighters that transport U.S. goods.
When told the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act was passed by Congress in 2022 and signed into law by former President Joe Biden, Trump answered: “That probably makes it a pretty bad law. I’ll take a look at it, sure.”
Trump bragged just weeks ago about his decision to bring in Russian diesel in the runup to the midterm elections, when it became clear that skyrocketing diesel prices were hurting Republican Senate candidates in the farm-rich Midwest and Plains states.
“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 wrote on Oct. 9. “Additionally, based on the condition of their Diesel Refineries, Russia will then deliver, within a short period of time, 3,000,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel.”
That same day, his Treasury Department granted a “general license” that suspended sanctions imposed through executive orders dating back to the administrations of Biden and Trump’s first-term predecessor, Barack Obama.
Neither Trump’s social media post nor the Treasury license addresses the plain-language text of the law passed in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
That language specifically bans the entry of a long list of Russian petroleum products, including diesel fuel, into the United States unless the president first certifies to Congress that Russia is withdrawing its troops from Ukraine and is ending its attacks.
New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill wrote a letter this week citing the law to ports and docks in that state on New York Harbor, warning that offloading any fuel from Russia could trigger both civil penalties and criminal prosecutions.
“This letter serves to put ports and businesses on notice that purchasing or unloading the illegal Russian fuel currently bound for the east coast of the United States at the urging of the Trump Administration would likely subject businesses and individuals to harsh penalties, both civil and criminal,” she wrote on Nov. 2. “You could be subject to millions of dollars in penalties long after Trump has left office and his corrupt administration has come to an end.”
A White House official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the administration’s interest in bringing the Russian diesel to the U.S.
“Consistent with the deal agreed to between President Trump and President Putin, Russian diesel is on the water and heading to the market, which will ease prices for Americans,” the official said.
The official referred a question about how the importation was legal, given the 2022 law, to the Treasury Department, which pointed to an Oct. 10 social media post from the Office of Foreign Assets Control that simply asserted: “The granting of this general license is consistent with similar actions previously taken by OFAC and is in compliance with all applicable laws.”
The warning by Sherrill, whose state has most of the port terminals used by fuel tankers in the northeast, as well as potential legal problems elsewhere, were enough to dissuade two of three tankers that left St. Petersburg in late October loaded with diesel bound for the United States.
One, the Russian-flagged Talisman, once in the North Atlantic, turned south and then entered the Mediterranean, possibly bound for Turkey or Sudan. The Sierra Leone-flagged Leruo altered course for Brazil.
Only the third tanker, the Maltese-flagged Agioi Fanendes, is still moving southwest, bound for the U.S. East Coast, although at barely 8 mph and without providing a destination, as commercial traffic normally does.
It carries 40,000 metric tons of diesel, or 300,000 barrels. Industry experts believe it has a market value of $60 million, but that Russia sold it for $20 million for the propaganda value. That means a diesel fuel distributor could make an enormous profit — if they are willing to take the legal and reputational risk.
“The discounts are obscene. They are selling this at a loss,” said one energy consultant on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the Trump administration.
He believed, though, that the Agioi Fanendes would also wind up elsewhere because no one in the United States wants to touch that fuel.
“They’ve concluded that it would violate U.S. law,” he said. “You’re going to be dragged in front of Congress over this. You’re helping Putin’s war.”
Oil industry experts, meanwhile, believe that putting Russian fuel on the world market in the amounts Trump claims would not affect prices much because it is a small fraction of what is consumed across the planet.
An official in Sherrill’s administration said her letter appears to have put the industry on notice, at least in New Jersey. “A handful of them said they had no interest in receiving the shipment,” the official said.
In her letter, she points out that helping Putin also means helping Iran, against which the U.S. is currently at war.
“In purchasing oil from Russia, a known supplier and financial supporter of Iran, Donald Trump is providing funding for a country that is engaged in hostilities with America, up to and including killing American soldiers,” she wrote. “I urge you to turn away any tanker that seeks to use your facilities in furtherance of such unlawful activity.”
Trump, as he has for over a decade, in his Thursday Oval Office question-and-answer session with reporters continued making excuses and lying to defend Putin. Asked if he, in his purported efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, had brought up with Putin his continued deadly attacks against Ukrainian civilians, Trump yet again “both-sided” the issue.
“I always bring it up. And I also bring it up the other way, because the other way they kill, too,” he said. “And I bring it up on both sides. You know, Russia is losing civilians also.”
Trump’s assertion, however, is false. While Russia has been targeting Ukrainian apartment buildings, trains, buses, schools and other civilian targets almost daily, Ukraine has not struck out at Russian civilians.