Tillis says Trump’s Russian diesel decision may violate law

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said Sunday that President Donald Trump may be violating U.S. law by easing sanctions on Russian diesel, as lawmakers from both parties urged the administration to reverse the decision.

“I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” the North Carolina senator said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” Asked directly whether Trump was breaking the law, Tillis replied, “I believe that he may be.”

Trump announced Friday that Russia would supply diesel to the global market after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. NBC News reported that Trump described hundreds of thousands of tons as immediately available, with more than 1 million additional tons to follow. Al Jazeera reported that Trump specified 300,000 tonnes initially and another 500,000 tonnes in November.

The administration says the move is intended to ease surging diesel prices. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox and Friends on Sunday that sanctions relief was necessary to address prices and said, “We’re going to do it with all the legal authorities we have.” The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Tillis’ remarks.

In 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Senate unanimously passed a bill banning Russian oil imports. Congress has not changed the law to reflect Trump’s announcement, NBC News reported. Al Jazeera also cited a 2022 executive order barring Russian fuel imports and reported that a law signed last month prohibits U.S. investment in Russia’s energy sector.

“We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor,” Tillis said. “Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied.” He warned that his support for funding military operations and year-end spending beyond baseline funding could be affected, adding, “I’m not the only Republican concerned with this.” Asked whether the deal put American lives at risk, he said, “It absolutely will,” citing Russian funding of mercenaries and the Kremlin’s relationship with Iran.

Tillis joined a bipartisan group of senators, including Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and John Curtis and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Richard Blumenthal, in a letter calling for the sanctions relief to be reversed, Al Jazeera reported. “The United States should not provide [Russian President Vladimir] Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” they wrote. Republican Rep. Don Bacon separately called support for Russia’s economy “morally wrong.”

Other Republicans defended the move. Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the 2022 sanctions bill, said he had opposed it because it would raise U.S. prices. “Glad to see Trump came around to that reality this week,” he wrote on X, calling for broader relief on petroleum products and some metals.

Al Jazeera reported that fuel prices have risen amid the U.S.-Israel war against Iran and restrictions on commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Tillis said Trump should address the situation in Iran and recognize that Putin, not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, started the war in Ukraine. Trump, meanwhile, accused Zelenskyy of failing to make a deal and suggested Ukraine choose a new president.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said the diesel agreement would provide Russia with revenue to finance its war, according to Al Jazeera. Tillis, who is not seeking re-election and whose Senate term ends in January, also criticized a Pentagon plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, and called for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to leave office.