Maine Senator Susan Collins has broken with Donald Trump over the president’s proposal to import Russian diesel as a means of lowering U.S. prices.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Collins and six other senators urged the administration to "immediately reverse course" on the plan Trump said would see Russia release millions of tons of diesel to the global marketplace.
The group of lawmakers—made up of four Republicans and three Democrats—argued that the deal runs counter to the 2022 ban on energy imports from Russia; this was enacted to "prevent American dollars from financing [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine."
This comes as the country and Maine in particular grapple with elevated fuel prices. AAA says that diesel is costing Mainers $6.45 per gallon on average as of Monday morning. This is up slightly from last week—and from $3.87 a year ago—and compares to the current nationwide average of $6.27.
Newsweek has contacted Collins’s campaign outside of regular working hours for comment and is awaiting a response.
What Is Trump’s Russian Diesel Deal?
"It was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter," the president posted to Truth Social on Friday.
The president went on to say that Russia would ultimately deliver a further three million tons—subject to refinery limitations. He added that this would bring down global and domestic diesel prices "IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!"
On Friday, a White House official told Newsweek that the Treasury had issued a license allowing Russian diesel to reach global markets. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said the license would permit the "sale, delivery, offloading, and importation of diesel fuel of Russian Federation origin." It added that this was being issued at the president’s direction.
The administration has said the additional 4.8 million tons of fuel it believes will reach the global market "is aimed squarely at bringing prices down."
The announcement followed Trump repeatedly painting high diesel prices in the U.S. as an issue with global refining capacity and Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure, rather than as a direct effect from the Iran war.
Why Is Susan Collins Opposing the Deal?
In a statement quoted by the Maine-based channel WMTW-TV, Collins said: "I oppose President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on the purchase of diesel from Russia. I was a cosponsor of the Russian sanctions law, which the president recently signed but is now not following."
Collins appeared to be referring to the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. This included a selection of measures designed to ramp up economic pressure on Moscow, and which Trump signed on September 18.
And the joint bipartisan statement signed by Collins and shared on her website said that Congress "explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022” to avoid supporting the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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It continued: "President Trump’s decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law. The Administration has also failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute. The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course."
With this, Collins joins a growing body of lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad who have expressed opposition to the Russian diesel plan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that the deal was a "birthday present for Putin." He told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl that any money which goes to Moscow is used to "kill us, kill our children."
The proposal has also drawn scrutiny from member states of the European Union, which has pledged to keep its own sanctions on Russian energy, despite Trump’s move.
Candidates in Other Tossups Oppose Trump’s Diesel Plan
Aside from Collins, the other Republican senators who signed the statement opposing Trump’s plan were Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Curtis of Utah and Thom Tillis, the retiring senator for North Carolina. They were joined by the Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
And, outside of this group, several Republicans locked in competitive midterm races have also voiced their concerns with the deal.
In Alaska, where diesel currently costs $6.55 per gallon on average, a spokesperson for the incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan said that he “believes American energy dominance is the answer to high prices, and that means producing more of it in Alaska, for Alaskans, by Alaskans, not importing it from Russia.”
And Mike Rogers, battling against the Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for an open Senate seat in Michigan—where diesel has climbed to $6.49 from just $3.66 over the past year—has said the U.S. should not have given Putin “an inch.”
Will Trump’s Diesel Plan Bring Down Prices?
Alongside opposition on legal and ethical grounds, some analysts have questioned the feasibility of the plan and whether it can meaningfully reduce diesel prices in the U.S.
"President Trump's true social post notes 500,000 tons in November, that's equivalent to about one day of U.S. diesel consumption," Bloomberg Economics Economic Statecraft Lead Chris Kennedy said on the Bloomberg This Weekend podcast.
"So, it's not a huge amount, and we don't expect it'll have much of an impact," Kennedy added. "And that's putting aside all of the legal and logistical challenges of getting Russian diesel to the U.S."
Others have questioned whether Russia—which has implemented a nationwide export ban—is capable of producing and exporting the amount of diesel promised by Trump.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, described the proposal as "difficult to achieve." He said on X that, while the "psychological impact" could temporarily lower prices, it would take longer "to determine if Russia has such ability."
Latest Developments in the Maine Senate Race Between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson
This episode marks another instance of Collins splitting with the president—having in the past criticized his latest tranche of tariffs on Canada. And it comes as her opponent, Troy Jackson, continues to use her past support for Trump and his policies as a central theme of his campaign.
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During the pair’s debates, Jackson has sought to cast Collins as a key enabler of the president at the expense of Maine voters. Collins, meanwhile, has argued that she is capable of criticizing the president, working with the opposition and of delivering for Mainers in Washington, D.C. The two are set to square off again on Thursday evening for their third of four planned debates.
Polls have yet to show either candidate holding a decisive advantage. Jackson has led in most, however, including a Washington Post/Schar School poll published Friday, in which he held 50 percent support compared to only 46 percent for Collins, a lead that was within the survey’s margin of error.
And the Democrat has recently received backing from two of the nation’s most notable political figures. Last week, former President Barack Obama endorsed Jackson in a video, saying he was "proud" to back the candidate, and added that, "in this economy, we need a fighter like Troy."
And over the weekend, Jackson was joined by the Vermont Senator and prominent progressive Democrat Bernie Sanders at a series of campaign events in Maine.
"If we as a nation want to hold Trump and his disastrous policies accountable the only way we can do that is by electing a Democratic Senate," Sanders said in Lewiston on Sunday.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and James Debens