Why Trump's diesel deal with Putin to help midterms was destined to fail

Newsweek · Brendan Cole · 2026-11-05 17:00 UTC

“It was never enough,” Jaime Brito from Dow Jones Energy told Newsweek.

Two tankers exporting Russian diesel under a deal between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not arrive in the U.S., it has been reported, as experts told Newsweek the U.S. president's move to lower gas prices could never succeed.

Trump issued waivers on sanctioned Russian energy for diesel to enter the U.S. to ease both gas prices and concerns for Americans as they voted in the midterms.

But two out of the three Russian diesel cargoes bound for the U.S. have now diverted to other destinations, according to independent Russian outlet Agentstvo and the Financial Times.

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