Pitiful Truth About Trump’s Deal With Putin Exposed in One Number

The first tanker carrying diesel from Russia to the United States under President Donald Trump’s sweetheart deal with Vladimir Putin is en route, but it will hardly make a dent.

The tanker, loaded with 40,000 tons of diesel, set sail from the Baltic port of Primorsk on Thursday carrying just enough fuel to cover about two hours of U.S. consumption. That’s roughly 300,000 barrels—compared with the 4 million barrels Americans consume daily, according to S&P Global Energy.

Even that modest shipment won’t arrive in time for the midterms. Shipping data reviewed by Reuters show that the Malta-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes isn’t expected to reach New York until around Nov. 7—four days after voters head to the polls.

It is the first tanker to cross the Atlantic under Trump’s deal with Putin, which allows U.S. buyers to purchase millions of metric tons of Russian oil by year’s end—a Hail Mary effort to lower fuel prices that critics say betrays Ukraine and other European allies.

Trump also waived congressionally approved sanctions aimed at restricting funding for Russia’s war effort just two days before they were due to take effect.

The 80-year-old president announced the agreement on Oct. 9, saying Russia would immediately export 300,000 metric tons to the U.S. and global markets, followed by 500,000 tons in November and 1 million ​tons “immediately thereafter.”

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky decried the deal as “a historic mistake and a big tragedy,” saying that “if the United States will take the side of Russia, of course we will not prevail.”

Thursday’s departure marks the first shipment of Russian petroleum to the U.S. since Joe Biden banned imports of Russian oil and petroleum products in March 2022.

The Kremlin confirmed that the Agioi Fanendes is headed west with Russian diesel on board, but has not said who purchased it.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia, which lifted a self-imposed embargo on diesel exports following the Trump deal, could boost monthly shipments to between 3 million and 3.5 million tons by year’s end.