Republican Representative Don Bacon has compared President Donald Trump to Neville Chamberlain over the White House's actions towards Ukraine and Russia, writing on X: "Our President has become Neville Chamberlain. We need a Churchill."
Mr Bacon, a former US Air Force veteran and member of Mr Trump's own party, invoked the memory of World War II to criticise his Commander-in-Chief. The remarks follow a recent deal agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the US to buy diesel to ease soaring fuel prices.
Chamberlain comparison and Churchill admiration
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain infamously declared in 1938 that he had achieved "peace for our time" as part of his appeasement strategy towards Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany before the outbreak of the Second World War. Winston Churchill went on to become one of Britain's greatest leaders, rallying the free world to victory over Hitler.
President Trump is known to be a huge fan of Churchill, having installed a bust of the wartime hero in the Oval Office. Earlier this year, when ex-PM Sir Keir Starmer refused America permission to use RAF airbases for strikes on Iran, Trump furiously declared Sir Keir was "not Winston Churchill" in a swipe at his British counterpart.
Cross-party criticism of diesel deal
The White House has come in for heavy criticism over the diesel deal with Moscow. A group of six Republican and six Democrat senators has jointly warned that lifting sanctions to allow Russia to sell the fuel is "a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies".
In their letter to Mr Trump, the senators argue the agreement to waive sanctions on Russia's diesel exports "only provides Putin with more fuel to finance his war machine and enables Russia to continue its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians".
The letter added: "Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin's murderous, illegal war. This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies; it should be rescinded."
Defence and diplomatic strains
The senators urged the president to impose sweeping new sanctions under legislation introduced last month, championed by the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham and backed by the UK Government, including the power to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, such as China and India. They said the economic pressure would enhance the president's negotiating position "to bring a swift end to this ruinous conflict".
Mr Trump has defended the decision, saying: "That's not being released to us. That's a diesel deal that's going to be released into the world for the world market because the world market suffered with high prices, and when you knock out diesel refineries, that's not a great thing." He added: "It's not a deal with me. It's a deal for the world."
Fuel prices have spiked as a result of the US war with Iran, which has disrupted oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, but Mr Trump has increasingly sought to lay blame on attacks by Ukraine on Russian refineries. The deal has led to renewed tensions between Washington, Kyiv and its allies, including the UK. Britain has rallied to support Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky after the US president suggested he should be replaced as the country's leader. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trump was "wrong" to attack Mr Zelensky and described his decision to "go backwards" on Russian oil sanctions as "disappointing".
