Trump's conflict with the Republican senators after the agreement for Putin's gasoline. "Russia is, at best, our rival"

Trump's conflict with Republican senators over Putin's gasoline deal. "Russia is, in the best case, our rival" American President Donald Trump entered into conflict with Republican senators just before the elections, through his surprising agreement to allow Russia to export gasoline to the United States, writes the publication The Hill. Some of them criticize the decision of the leader of the White House, but there are also many others who, although less vocal, have the same opinion that Trump was wrong to decide to buy gasoline from Putin. Four Republican senators—Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), John Curtis (Utah), and Thom Tillis (North Carolina)—have already spoken against the controversial agreement between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many others are probably privately critical of this surprising move, which Trump implemented without prior warning or consultation with the Republican senators, according to The Hill. "I think there are many more people who criticize this decision in private. The question is whether they want to make it public," said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist and former member of the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives. Only two months earlier, the Senate adopted a tough package of sanctions against Russia, which Donald Trump postponed for months, despite the growing pressure from his Republican colleagues to approve it. "The greater political risk for the president in this regard—if it is a political risk—is that there is a substantial basis of support within his party for adopting a very hard stance against Russia, which he does not seem to share," said Weber. As the days pass, it is expected that more and more Republican senators will condemn Trump's deal with Russia, which will generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Russian economy and could put it in a more favorable position to continue the war against Ukraine. According to the agreement, the US would have to buy approximately 2.5 million tons of fuel from Russia. "The deep support for Ukraine in this fight should not be underestimated by Republicans nor by the American public in general. Most Americans have spent their entire lives realizing that Russia is, in the best case, our rival and, in the worst case, our declared enemy," said Weber. "They are deeply involved in supporting Ukraine, both emotionally and in other ways." "A gesture of desperation" Trump faces pressure to take action regarding the high prices of fuel and gasoline, which have increased due to the war in Iran. A high-ranking Republican advisor in the Senate expressed hope that the deal could provide crucial help to Republican candidates in the final sprint towards the election day. "Trump realizes that the prices of gasoline are very high and believes he is trying to do everything he can to reduce them. As far as it is known, he made a pact with the devil," said the source. Danielle Pletka, a distinguished researcher specializing in US foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute, called the gasoline deal "a salvation for Putin" at a time when the Russian offensive has stalled in Ukraine. However, she suggested that Trump is "desperate" to reduce gasoline prices, given that polls now show that Democrats are favored to win the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate in the upcoming elections. "It is just a gesture of desperation by a president who does not understand how this is perceived," she said, calling the lifting of sanctions "a salvation for Putin at a time when he is losing ground. It seems like a pact between two desperate people." The senators who voted in favor of a new package of tough sanctions against Russia are not delighted by the prospect of the United States buying hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian gasoline now, especially since they have made efforts for months to prevent China and India from acquiring Russian energy products. Collins, who is in a tough fight for re-election in a state that Trump lost in his three presidential campaigns, criticized the supreme commander for not respecting the legislation on sanctions against Russia that the president signed last month. "I oppose President Trump's decision to lift the sanctions on purchasing gasoline from Russia. I was one of the initiators of the law on sanctions against Russia that the president recently signed, but which he no longer respects," Collins wrote on social media on Sunday, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. "Trying to find a balance" She joined three other Republican senators and three Democrats in a joint statement in which she harshly criticized Trump for violating a 2022 law that prohibits the import of energy from Russia. "Congress explicitly banned the import of energy from Russia in 2022 to prevent the US dollar from financing Putin's brutal war against Ukraine. Congress was clear: the US should not import oil from Russia until it stops its aggression against Ukraine and renounces threats against our NATO allies," Collins stated in a joint statement with Republican colleagues Murkowski, Tillis, and Curtis, as well as Democratic senators Ron Wyden (Oregon), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), and Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), who are also high-ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "President Trump's decision to allow imports of Russian gasoline into the US directly violated this law," the senators stated, emphasizing that the administration did not consult Congress nor provide an explanation that would justify the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil, as the law provides. Republicans admit that the high prices of gasoline have become a major political obstacle for Republican candidates in the decisive elections across the country. The Senate majority leader, John Barrasso (R-Wy.), stated that Trump is facing a difficult problem. "The President is trying to find a balance and must make difficult decisions. He is trying to find a balance between stopping and ending... Putin's war in Ukraine and reducing prices for American families," he said on Sunday during the CBS News program "Face the Nation." Barrasso, one of Trump's most loyal allies in the Senate, did not specify whether he supports the deal with Putin and quickly blamed Democrats for limiting domestic oil production. He maintained that the bill on sanctions against Russia, adopted by Congress at the beginning of this year, was intended to give Trump "the flexibility and power needed to use another instrument against Vladimir Putin," suggesting that Congress gave the president full freedom regarding the application of sanctions. "Half of the gasoline demand in the US a day" A high-ranking Republican Senator noted that gasoline prices have already dropped to $6.27 per gallon, down from the high of $6.53 per gallon recorded in September. "He is just trying to reduce the price as quickly as possible. I have also observed that the prices have dropped at the pump," said the source. "Regardless of what is happening, whether it is a measure taken by Trump or a natural phenomenon, the time could not be more opportune for him." "If we look at all the decisive states, the price of gasoline and fuel will be the two main factors that will determine how voters in the middle class will vote," the advisor added. "It will be extremely important for farmers across the country who are in full harvest right now." However, Alex Jacquez, senior vice president for policy, advocacy, and research at the economic policy think tank Groundwork Collaborative, based in Washington, stated that the price of gasoline will probably remain above $6 until election day. Jacquez estimated that the transaction would generate approximately $400 million for the Russian economy. "It is certainly not a negligible sum," he said, but added that "it will not be a decisive factor" in Russia's war effort. The impact on the US economy will also probably be modest. Jacquez predicted a "minimal" impact on domestic gasoline prices. "Although 300,000 metric tons—2.2 billion barrels—seem like a large quantity of barrels, which is why Trump presents it that way, it represents approximately half of the daily gasoline demand in the United States," he said. Jacquez previously held the position of special assistant to former President Biden for industrial policy and economic development within the National Economic Council. Editor: B.P. Follow the news on Digi24.ro and on Google News