Tillis Says Trump's Russian Diesel Deal May Break the Law. Bessent Says Treasury Has the Authority

Since Trump's Friday, Oct. 9 Truth Social announcement that Russia would "immediately supply" diesel to the global market, the fight has moved from Kyiv to Capitol Hill. On Sunday, Oct. 11, a sitting Republican senator said the president may be breaking the law, and the Treasury secretary said he is not.

Tillis: "A legitimate case"

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "I do believe there's a legitimate case for saying the president's not following the law." Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether Trump is breaking the law, he answered: "I believe that he may be."

Tillis pointed to a 2022 statute banning Russian oil imports. It passed the Senate 100-0, and Congress has not amended it to reflect Trump's announcement. The law includes a process for a president to end the ban, subject to specified requirements. Tillis said Trump's actions are "the exact opposite of the intent" of the sanctions bill Trump signed last month, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. It is named for the South Carolina senator who died in July.

Tillis is retiring in January. He said he and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are preparing a joint statement on the issue.

He also attached a price tag. "If the president wants my support, which I believe he should get for funding military operations and year-end funding beyond baseline funding, I think the president needs to understand this is a problem, and I'm not the only Republican concerned with this," he said.

Asked whether the deal puts American lives at risk, Tillis said "It absolutely will," citing Russian funding of mercenaries and Moscow's ties to Iran. He added that Putin will embarrass or undermine Trump "at the first opportunity."

The administration's answer

Bessent rejected the legal argument on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "We're going to do it with all the legal authorities we have," he said. "Anyone in Congress who says whether it's an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill (that) prohibits us from doing it is wrong." He called the deal "good for the American people" because it would bring diesel prices down.

Bessent did not say which specific authority the Treasury is relying on. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tillis's remarks.

Senate Republican whip John Barrasso of Wyoming defended the move on CBS' "Face the Nation." He said Trump is focused on lowering costs for consumers, ranchers, farmers and truckers, and that "the president is balancing and has to make tough decisions."

What Trump announced

In his post, Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, with more than a million additional tons to follow. He tied the announcement to what he called "total control" of the Strait of Hormuz and predicted diesel prices would fall "in record numbers, and fast." The administration temporarily lifted U.S. sanctions on Russian fuel to make it work.

Diesel prices are near record highs. They matter for trucking, farming and home heating, and they land weeks before the midterms, which will decide whether Republicans keep their thin congressional majorities. Trump has said the move is meant to cut fuel costs before the election. Reuters reported that analysts consider sustained lower prices unlikely from the arrangement.

Tillis argued the price pressure stems from elsewhere. "If President Trump wants to end the strain on energy supplies, No. 1, get things right in Iran and, No. 2, recognize that it was Vladimir Putin, not Zelenskyy, who started this war," he said.

Criticism from both parties

Tillis is not alone. Retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., wrote on X Friday that "propping up Putin's war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities." Former Vice President Mike Pence called the decision a "betrayal" of Graham's legacy and urged Trump to rescind it.

Zelensky called the decision "weak" and said it would hand Putin "billions" in extra revenue to fight "even more intensely." William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine now at the Atlantic Council, told Bloomberg that the arrangement could give Moscow money to prolong the war and undercut sanctions.

The diesel fight sits beside a separate row over Trump's Sunday announcement of an "energy ceasefire." Zelensky said Russian drones and airstrikes continued through Sunday, including a hit on a Kharkiv power station.

What comes next

The legal question has not been tested. No lawsuit or formal congressional challenge has been announced. The leverage Tillis cited is concrete, though: year-end funding talks, where Republican defections matter in a narrow Senate. The Tillis-Shaheen statement and any Treasury explanation of its legal basis are the next things to watch.