The developments capped a whirlwind weekend for the White House. On Friday, Trump announced the diesel agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, hailing it in a Truth Social post as bringing "lower prices for Americans," and ordered the Treasury Department to suspend restrictions preventing Russian diesel from being sold on global markets.
High energy prices, particularly in midwestern agricultural states that rely on diesel to power farm machinery and carry goods to market, have become a growing source of frustration for American voters. Polls suggest voters view the Iran War as the leading cause of their economic woes, and support for Trump, along with approval of his handling of the war and the economy, has dropped sharply.
Two days later, Trump was back on Truth Social touting a new energy ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The reality was more complicated. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had no advance notice of the agreement, although he said Ukraine would abide by it. Russia was silent on the deal, and on Sunday night launched a new wave of attacks on Ukrainian power plants.
"It's clear that Putin does not read Truth Social," Zelensky said.
The episode illustrates the political risk of the President's approach with early voting already underway in some battleground states: world affairs are proving harder to control than social media announcements.