THE ALASKA STORY
Oct. 11, 2026 – Sen. Lisa Murkowski is again breaking with President Donald Trump, joining six other senators Sunday in demanding that his administration reverse its decision to allow Russian diesel imports.
The Alaska Republican signed a bipartisan statement released Oct. 11 by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The senators contend that Trump’s agreement conflicts with Congress’s 2022 ban on Russian energy imports and that the administration failed to provide the required congressional consultation and explanation.
Trump announced the arrangement Friday following a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel to American and global markets, followed by additional shipments. His administration temporarily eased sanctions on Russian fuel, presenting the deal as an effort to bring down diesel prices.
Murkowski and the other signers argued that allowing the imports would undermine restrictions intended to prevent American energy purchases from financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“The Administration must immediately reverse course,” the senators wrote. They also accused the administration of failing to consult Congress or justify its decision as required by statute.
Joining Murkowski were Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Curtis of Utah, along with Democrats Shaheen of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
The statement was released through the Foreign Relations Committee’s Democratic press office; it was a joint statement by the seven senators, rather than a declaration by the full committee.
The administration defended its authority to pursue the arrangement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the government would use its available legal authorities to seek relief from high diesel prices, according to Reuters.
For Alaska, diesel costs reach well beyond the highway: Fishing vessels, freight carriers and communities dependent on diesel generation all have a stake in fuel affordability.
The dispute puts Murkowski publicly at odds with Trump once more, this time over his attempt to use Russian diesel supplies to ease fuel costs.
15 thoughts on “Murkowski pushes back on Trump again, demands reversal of Russian diesel deal”
Your usual “Republican” suspects and a few Jewish Dems. Same old same old. They’re all rich and care nothing about the average person’s wallet.
Steve Peterson, I would add the only wallet these corrupt senators care about is Zelensky’s money laundering wallet.
Newsweek’s reporting on Republican opposition to the diesel deal includes this paragraph:
According to the New York Times, former Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, and Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan have also broken with Trump on the diesel deal. Rogers said “you just don’t want to give that guy an inch,” referring to Putin, while a Sullivan spokesperson said high prices should be addressed through “American energy dominance” rather than importing Russian energy.
I wholeheartedly agree with Murkowski. Senator Dan and Mike Rogers who is fighting the fight of his political life in the Michigan US Senate race vs Democrat Al-Sayed.
Not possible on a reasonable time scale. What is,needed is REFINERIES!!! The US hasn’t been Building refineries for a long time. Especially blue states . hello, California! Where they shut down the ones they had, because the anti petroleum nutters want them gone, public be damned. You can drill and pump lots,of crude,oil til the cows ( if they let you have those anymore) come home, unless you refine the crude into useful products, but t doesn’t help you. Refineries take a long time to build. And nobody will build one unless I they’re sure that the Friends of Unicorn Flatulence and their shysters can’t come along and and get Sharon Gleason to shut it down for them. With a smack of her gavel
I believe, if my memory is correct, that the last refinery built in the US was in the 1970’s. For crying out loud!!! Just how long do you think the lifetime is for these units?? Forever? We need new more up to date refineries!! Do you use the same computer that you owned 20 years ago? I worked on the slope in production for 24 years and the life expectancy of the fields was 50 years. Think about this, how many years do you think that your car will last? How about your refrigerator? Your house? We need new refineries!!
We’re buying Russian diesel and Argentinian beef.
Is this what America first looks like, MAGA? Ukraine is wiping out Russian bot farms. Many of you may notice some of your internet friends are suddenly gone. Who would have thought so many free-thinking, anti-vax, Texas good ol’ boy, evangelical Christian, MAGA devotees actually lived only in Vladimir Russia….
You really aren’t that bright, are you?
I’m glad we have one republican senator who represents Alaskans interests. RINO Dan Sullivan is just a Cult Trump lemming that does Trump’s bidding. United States should be supporting Ukraine 100 percent. The United States was one of the signers that convinced Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons.
Oh’ Lisa,
We still direct import over $4B in Russian goods, excluding petroleum. I don’t see you complaining about that. And yes, we still purchase Russian petroleum with ship-to-ship transfers and by importing it from South America. Your TDS is out of control.
For Lisa to understand international trade, she would have to be able to do basic math, and read some things, which apparently is beyond her. We live in Alaska. If we don’t get along with Russia, we will regret it. There is really no reason to prop up Ukraine in this nonsense anyway, since they picked the fight, and then cried wolf. Zelenskyy gets richer every time we send anything over there, and he doesn’t want the war to end because of this. He owns multimillion dollar houses all over Europe. He isn’t in this for any reason other than his own wealth.
Lisa is a fiscal idiot.
Tamra Nygaard, Princess Lisa and math? 🤣 Given it took her 4-5 tries to pass the bar exam you could amend your comment with “Lisa is an idiot.”
How are Nancy and I going to get out of Wrangell? All of the ferries use diesel fuel. We could be stranded here and unable to get back home to our villa in Mexico. Lisa obviously doesn’t give a crap about her aged parents. It’s more important for her to please her Democrat constituents by hating Trump. She’s already started her 2028 campaign against Mike Dunleavy.
Lisa has a mental health appointment on Tuesday. That’s the real reason she can’t attend the Trump Rally in Wasilla. The other reason is because she’ s supporting Mary Peltola in the US Senate Race. She’s already helped Mary pick out a house to rent in the Wash DC suburbs.
Believe it or not, a good majority of the diesel fuel and jet fuel for western alaska, and the Aleutian communities is imported from far east countries and sometimes from Canada. So what if we also can get it from Russia. Don’t want Russia diesel fuel then maybe Alaska should just refine their own diesel fuel
Lisa demands reversal? LOL. That used to be her favorite position. Reversal cowgirl. But that was 21 years ago. I’m no longer agreeable to any compromising position with her. She’s as cold as a can of beer on an iceberg.