David Andrzejek

Late last night, President Trump announced a “massive” deal to buy diesel fuel from Russia. For the American truckers and farmers Trump claims to be serving, the deal means little or nothing. Trump may not know or may not care that his latest gambit will not reduce diesel prices. His poll numbers are plunging to Herbert Hoover levels. He needs a last-minute electioneering gimmick. But while the deal will not benefit American consumers, it has immense consequences for others. For Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the deal is a potential lifesaver. For war-ravaged Ukraine, it is the most outrageous and heartless Trump betrayal to date. For Trump’s entourage, the deal promises corruption opportunities on a multibillion-dollar scale. And for people trying to understand the Trump presidency, the deal is further proof of the accusation that Nancy Pelosi flung in Trump’s face in 2019: “With you, all roads lead to Putin.” The United States is a diesel superpower. It is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of diesel fuel. U.S. refineries produce about 5.2 million barrels of diesel a day. Americans consume about 3.7 million barrels a day. The surplus is sold abroad: In recent months exports have run above 1.5 million barrels a day. The United States imports some diesel fuel from Canada, about 154,000 barrels a day, owing to the peculiarities of pipeline and shipping networks: It’s cheaper to supply New England from the Canadian refinery in New Brunswick than from U.S. refineries along the Gulf Coast. By comparison, Trump’s Russia deal is for 2.25 million barrels: the equivalent of about 16 hours’ worth of U.S. consumption, 10 hours’ worth of U.S. production, or 14 days’ worth of Canadian imports. Unfortunately for U.S. diesel consumers, the price of diesel fuel is set by global markets, not North American ones. Trump’s Iran war has disrupted fuel supplies from the Middle East, including diesel supplies. Before the war, Europe imported more than half a million barrels of diesel a day from the Persian Gulf. The world’s second-biggest diesel exporter used to be Russia, which shipped about 817,000 barrels a day in 2025. When the Iran war raised energy prices, Russia was positioned to profit. The United States in the past tried to help Ukraine by sanctioning Russian energy exports. Trump sometimes pretended to support this policy. In September 2025, for example, Trump proclaimed a tariff on India, ostensibly to punish India for buying Russian oil—but then lifted it in February. So the Ukrainians took matters into their own hands. As Russia has intensified its horrific drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian civilians, Ukraine has struck back with a devastating campaign against Russian energy infrastructure, including diesel. By late summer 2026, the Ukrainians estimated that they had shut down 43 percent of Russian refinery capacity. According to Ukrainian reports, Russian production of oil of all kinds plunged from 5.6 million barrels a day before the Iran war to 4.1 million barrels by late summer 2026. Russia imposed a ban on diesel exports in July. That ban has been extended into October. Friends of Ukraine hailed the attacks on Russian energy infrastructure as a war-changing success. Trump saw a threat to Republican hopes in the midterms. Curbs on Russian fuel exports helped push the price of diesel fuel in the U.S. above $5 a gallon in July, then higher than $6 a gallon in September. Author: David Frum:

This is truly a great man. He has invested more in Ukraine than 185 countries combined. Meet Howard Buffett, Warren Buffett’s middle son. He is 71 years old. He dropped out of college three times. He drinks Dr Pepper and looks for a McDonald’s wherever he travels. Since the beginning of the war, his foundation has become the largest private donor to Ukraine: $1.4 billion. Over four years, he has personally visited Ukraine 27 times. In April 2022, he saw burned-out agricultural machinery and called the president of John Deere: “How many combines are available in Europe?” “Fifteen. All of them were supposed to go to Russia.” “I’ll take them all.” Then came all the available New Holland equipment in Europe. Altogether, more than 100 tractors and combines were provided to Ukrainian farmers. He even tested demining equipment himself - on his own farm in Illinois, detonating explosives beneath rollers. When a Ukrainian deputy minister expressed doubts, Buffett told him: “Stop counting my tractors. If necessary, I’ll blow up a thousand of them.” Andriy Stavnitser initially asked him for $1 million for Superhumans. Buffett asked how much was needed to build the entire center. “$14 million.” “Okay. And what do you expect in return?” “Nothing. Build it.” Today, his support for Superhumans has reached $77 million, and the center has treated more than 1,700 patients. But his largest area of spending is neither agricultural machinery nor prosthetics. It is food: 642 million meals. And that is only part of it: * 344,000 windows replaced after Russian attacks; * 9 bridges, 4 power plants, 2,500 generators, and 18 DNA laboratories; * Much of Bucha rebuilt with his funding. “I already have more friends in Ukraine than I do at home,” he says. He celebrates birthdays in Ukraine, comes for Christmas, and even has a Ukrainian godson. Friends, this is truly a great man - someone who understands that he cannot take all his money with him when he leaves this world. I simply want to thank him and wish him well. Whatever else one may say, this is real help from a person who had no personal obligation to Ukraine. He simply chose to help. Source: translated from the original text by Oleh Bairak.