Fact checkPoliticsPublished October 11, 2026

“President Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russia to allow the release of diesel fuel violates existing U.S. law.” — Thom Tillis. Our verdict: Unverified.

“President Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russia to allow the release of diesel fuel violates existing U.S. law.” — Thom Tillis. Our verdict: Unverified.
Thom TillisNews reportOctober 11, 2026

Senator Thom Tillis made the claim in an NBC News report about a fuel deal with Russia, dated 11 October 2026.

Our verdict

Unverified

We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute the claim that President Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russia to allow the release of diesel fuel violates U.S. law. No source directly links President Trump to the sanctions relief, and no source offers a legal analysis of whether it breaks the law.

Know something that settles it? Send us evidence

What we found

Senator Thom Tillis said he believes the fuel deal with Russia may break the law, according to an NBC News report. That tells us what he thinks, but it does not prove the claim itself. Separately, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135, which allows transactions for importing and delivering Russian-origin diesel fuel until April 2027. This shows the sanctions relief happened, but it does not say President Trump ordered it, and it does not say whether the move is lawful. With no official legal finding and no direct link to the president, we cannot reach a firm verdict either way.

The evidence

1 of 2 sources support the claim; none contradict it.

Contradict 0Support 1Background 1
  • Background

    Senator Thom Tillis publicly said he believes President Trump's decision to ease sanctions on Russia to allow the release of diesel fuel may violate the law. This is his opinion, not proof. [1]

  • Supports the claim

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued General License No. 135, authorising transactions for the import and delivery of Russian-origin diesel fuel until April 2027. This confirms the sanctions relief exists but does not attribute it to President Trump or judge its legality. [2]

What we could not confirm

  • Whether President Trump personally ordered or directed the sanctions relief.
  • Whether the general license violates any U.S. law, such as CAATSA or IEEPA, as no official legal analysis or court ruling was found.
  • Whether later developments after October 2026 change the picture.

How we checked

We looked at the NBC News report containing Senator Tillis's statement and the Treasury's General License No. 135, and searched for any official legal analysis or court ruling on whether the sanctions relief breaks U.S. law. We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute the claim. If you have evidence that bears on this, please send it to us. We reviewed 2 relevant sources.

Sources

  1. [1]www.nbcnews.com · Sen. Thom Tillis says he believes Trump’s fuel deal with Russia could be breaking the law
  2. [2]OFAC, Department of the Treasury · General License No. 135 · October 9, 2026
  3. [3]Photo: United States Senate Photography / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Help us check this claim

We could not find enough public evidence to confirm or refute this claim. If you know of an official record, dataset, transcript or report that settles it, send us the link. We review every submission and update this fact check when the evidence changes the picture.

Measured Take updates fact checks when new evidence emerges. Corrections are noted on the page.

All fact checks