Since When Is Funding Terrorists "America First"?

The Truth About Buying Russian Diesel

Take a look at two things happening at the same time right now.

Thing number one: Young American men and women in the Navy are standing watch on warships in the Red Sea. Their hands are on the controls, ready to shoot down incoming suicide drones and ballistic missiles launched by terrorists who chant "Death to America."

Thing number two: Massive tanker ships full of Russian diesel fuel are docking at American ports. Donald Trump signed off on a special waiver through the Treasury Department, throwing out our own sanctions so we could write a massive check directly to Vladimir Putin for cheap fuel.

If that sounds completely backward to you, trust your gut. It makes zero sense. And if you actually believe in "America First," this deal should make your blood boil. The pitch from politicians is always the same: “Fuel costs too much! We had to cut a deal with Russia to bring down prices at the pump!” Sounds great in a quick campaign speech. But look at the real math. America burns around 4 million barrels of diesel every single day. We’ve got hundreds of thousands of semi-trucks, tractors, freight trains, and work vans running day and night. This Russian deal brings in a tiny sliver of that. In the real world, it’s a drop in a five-gallon bucket. It might knock a couple of pennies off wholesale prices in two or three coastal cities for a week or two, but it won't give working families real, lasting relief at the grocery store or the pump.

So why do it? Look at the calendar. It’s mid-October, and the midterm elections are literally weeks away. Politicians in Washington know that when voters see high numbers on the big bright sign at the gas station, they get mad and vote against whoever is in office. This whole deal wasn’t born out of some brilliant plan to help working people. It’s pure panic before election day. They are gambling with our national security and tossing our principles out the window just to try and buy a good headline before people walk into the voting booth.

What makes this an absolute disgrace is that we didn't even need their fuel.

Think about what "America First" is supposed to mean.

 It’s supposed to mean: Use American resources. Support American workers. Don’t rely on foreign dictators. We have the roughnecks, drillers, and refinery workers right here at home in Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Alaska producing millions of barrels of fuel every single day. And right across our northern border, Canada—our closest ally—supplies over 80% of our imported fuel without a single drop of controversy attached to it. If parts of the East Coast needed more diesel, that fuel was already sitting in Texas. All Washington had to do was waive temporary shipping red tape so American fuel could move freely from the Gulf Coast to New York and Boston. Instead of backing American roughnecks and Canadian allies, Washington chose to write a check to Moscow.

How on earth is sending American dollars to Russia while ignoring American energy "America First"? It’s the exact opposite.

And think about the absolute betrayal this represents to our allies.

For years, Washington leaned on our friends in Europe and told them: “You have to cut off Russian oil and gas. We know it will hurt. We know your heating bills will double, and your factories will struggle, but we have to stand together to stop Russia from destroying Ukraine.” Our allies actually stepped up. Regular families across Europe put on extra sweaters, paid brutal utility bills, and took the economic hit because they trusted America. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers have been bleeding and dying in freezing trenches every single day, fighting to protect their homeland from Putin’s brutal invasion.

Now, the second our own fuel prices tick up before an election, Washington gives itself a hall pass and buys Putin’s discounted diesel. It is a total stab in the back to Ukraine, and it tells every ally we have in Europe that American leadership is a one-way street: sacrifice for thee, but not for me. Why should any country ever stand with us or trust our word again?

Worst of all, this hurts our own military.

Money doesn't disappear into thin air. When we pay Russia for diesel, that cash goes straight into the Kremlin’s bank account to fund their military machine. And what is Russia doing with that money? They are in bed with the worst enemies of the United States. Russia handed spy satellite targeting data straight to the Houthis in Yemen so they could aim missiles and drones at American Navy destroyers. Vladimir Putin rolled out the red carpet in Moscow to host the top leaders of Hamas right after they slaughtered innocent people and took American hostages on October 7. And Russia feeds high-tech jamming gear, missile components, and radar straight to the Iranian regime, which hands it right over to the militias firing suicide drones at American bases in Iraq and Syria.

You pay for fuel in America. Your dollars flow to Vladimir Putin. Putin uses that money to upgrade weapons and military tech for Iran. And Iran gives those weapons to terrorists who aim them straight at an American 19-year-old standing watch on a ship in the Red Sea. We are literally helping finance the weapons that our own sons and daughters in uniform have to dodge. We are literally helping finance the weapons that our own sons and daughters in uniform have to dodge.

Think about that the next time you hear a politician give a speech about patriotism.

You can’t put your hand over your heart at a rally, talk about how much you love the troops, and then turn around and hand a billion-dollar lifeline to a dictator who is helping terrorists put crosshairs on American soldiers. You can't claim you believe in "America First" while you stab our Ukrainian brothers-in-arms in the back as they bleed in frozen mud, so that you can knock four cents off a gallon of gas before an election.

That isn't strength. That isn't smart business. It is pure, unadulterated cowardice.

The next time an American destroyer in the Red Sea has to fire its guns into the dark because another suicide drone is screaming toward its flight deck, remember where the money came from. Remember that while our sailors were praying their defenses held, the people running Washington were welcoming Russian tankers into our harbors with open arms.

Every drop of that discounted diesel comes stained with the blood of our allies and the safety of our own children in uniform.

If our honor, our allies, and the lives of our troops can all be sold out for cheap fuel, then God help this country, because we haven’t just lost our way. We’ve sold our soul.

You can’t wave the American flag on the weekend, talk about "supporting our troops," and then turn around on Monday to write a massive check to the very regime arming terrorists who want our soldiers dead. Real strength isn’t taking the easy way out with blood money and discounted fuel from Vladimir Putin. Real strength is drilling our own oil, backing our own workers, standing by our allies, and refusing to bend the knee to dictators who hate this country.

Buying diesel from Russia isn't good sense. It's a betrayal of Ukraine, a slap in the face to our allies, and an insult to every single American wearing the uniform.