Ashley Hinson used Iowa’s Senate debate stage Tuesday to tell President Trump that cutting fuel costs should not mean buying Russian diesel.
Hinson (R-IA) criticized the 300,000-ton Russian diesel arrangement during the second televised debate hosted by WHO 13, while her Democratic opponent, Josh Turek (D-IA), also rejected the move as both candidates talked about voter anger over gas and diesel prices.
“We need to lower gas prices in this country. We need to lower diesel prices, but I don’t think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it,” Hinson said.
Hinson pointed away from Moscow and toward policies tied to Iowa and domestic production, including a temporary gas-tax cut, possible diesel rebates for producers and more support for biofuels.
“I think we should be doing it by lowering the gas tax temporarily, making sure we’re actually looking at potentially a diesel rebate program for our producers, investing in America’s biofuels, which is the homegrown answer that we have right here in Iowa,” Hinson added.
Trump’s fuel-price gamble centers on 300,000 tons of diesel that Russia agreed to send into the U.S. and global marketplace after the president announced the arrangement last week, with Election Day only weeks away.
That move opened a new fight on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers in both parties have warned that Russian fuel sales could send money toward the war in Ukraine, conflict with U.S. law and pull Trump’s government closer to Putin’s.
A Sunday joint statement from seven senators, including four Republicans, framed the purchase as money for Moscow.
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“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” the senators said.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Curtis (R-UT) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) all signed the statement.
Trump was hit Tuesday with a separate written rebuke from six GOP senators over the Russia diesel purchase.
Before the debate, Hinson had already registered her concern about loosening pressure on Russia in an interview with The Associated Press.
“It makes me a little bit nervous anytime we’re talking about relieving a sanction on Russia,” Hinson said.
Turek took the opening to point out that he and Hinson were on the same side of at least one major question.
“We actually agree on this. I want to do everything that I can because everywhere I’m going, all across Iowa, I’m hearing from Iowans talking about gas prices and diesel prices,” Turek said. “But I don’t think it should be at the expense of benefiting the economy of someone like a Vladimir Putin, who we clearly cannot trust.”
The Senate pushback reached back to the 2022 Russian energy-import ban that Congress passed after the Ukraine war began.
“Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine,” the seven senators said in their joint statement.
The senators also accused the administration of moving ahead without the required consultation with Congress.
Collins, facing a tough fight for another term in Maine, put her break with Trump directly on social media.
“I oppose President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on the purchase of diesel from Russia,” Collins wrote. “I was a cosponsor of the Russian sanctions law, which the President recently signed but is now not following.”
Trump stood by the purchase Monday and cast the dispute as a fight over his America First agenda.
“I made the right choice for the American People — ALWAYS, AMERICA FIRST!” Trump wrote.
He also shifted attention to Europe, accusing the media of avoiding the money other nations had paid Russia for energy.
“The European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy, and the Fake News Media doesn’t want to get near that story,” Trump said.
Trump aimed another post at critics of the diesel purchase while denying that Russia and China were helping Iran.
“I see so many comments from the Radical Left Morons and Lunatics that China and Russia are helping the ‘wonderful’ Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote.
“If they are, it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast!”
Hinson had already connected overseas conflicts to household costs last month, before the debate answer put her at odds with Trump on Russia.
Iowans “shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said then.
The administration’s fuel-price scramble also reached Texas on Tuesday, when Vice President JD Vance announced a Defense Production Act move at a Tyler refinery.
Under the Defense Production Act, the president can boost production of certain items for national security.
“I am pleased to announce that the Trump administration, working with the refinery at Delek, has used the Defense Production Act and we’re going to expand the refinery right here in Tyler, Texas,” Vance said during a Texas rally.
Vance framed the refinery expansion as a way to add more fuel beyond the facility’s current output.
“We want millions of gallons of commercial-grade and military-spec fuel to come out of this refinery, in addition to what it’s already producing,” Vance told the crowd.
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